Cross My Heart
by imortal-requiem
Summary: What would you do for family? Aparently Roxas would crossdress.If Schoolgirl Roxas doesn't bring all the boys to the yard, then what the hell will? AKUROKU,SLIGHT GENDER-BENDING, READ FOR A COOKIE! REVISED!Just read it already XP
1. Prologue: A New Beginning

**Up and RUNNING! I am soooo sorry to all of you who have been waiting for this. It hasn't been abandoned, and, as you can see, its finally ready (sort of)! For those of you who don't know, this is actually a revision of the original story. I'll keep updates as regular as possible, based on how my schedule works out, and finish it for sure this go-round ;D **

**THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU SOOOOOOO MUCH TO ALL OF THE LOVE AND SUPPORT! I feel aweful for making you guys wait this long, but hopefully the wait will be worth it.**

**Note: First couple of chapters are fairly similar plot-wise to the original, but some slight changes have been made, and much larger ones have been made as the story progresses. So if you've read this before, hopefully you don't mind a little refresher. I've had fun finishing up my outlines, and writing the chapters that I've already done, so I'm crossing my fingers and hoping you all feel the same. Enjoy!**

**Prologue:**

"Namine, this isn't going to work." Roxas fidgeted in his chair as the girl fluttered about him, putting mysterious things on his face and teasing his hair. Not that it was _his_ hair. The soft, pale-blonde strands that were so alien to him sat quietly over one shoulder. He was still having issues with the fact that he had agreed to do this.

"Don't worry! We're twins, right? Even Mom mixes us up sometimes!" the smaller girl offered, hoping her brother could find satisfaction in her assurance.

Grinding his teeth, the boy inwardly cursed the mother that bore him a twin, and the god that made such an abomination possible. Outwardly, he retorted, "Nam, mom hasn't mixed us up since we were six and you cut your own hair because you wanted to look more like me. Back then there were no… _defining features _to indicate any difference in gender. At least, none that anyone could see without getting arrested for child molestation."

This was how things had been going 'behind the scenes' at Roxas' house for the past two weeks. Planning, experimenting, and trial runs for 'gender switch Roxas' were finally proving beneficial as, with a last swipe of lip-gloss, Namine spun his chair around to show Roxas the final product.

Two slow blinks confirmed his astonishment as he stared at the image of two likenesses of his sister in the mirror.

"Wow." Roxas continued to stare, resisting the urge to reach out and confirm which reflection was really his.

"Wow?" Namine asked rhetorically. The small girl turned the chair back around to face her, tearing Roxas from his rapture. He looked into blue eyes that could have been his own, ignoring the expectant look they gave him. The blonde girl's tone rang with shrill disappointment as she iterated her thoughts, "Honestly, I help you with Spanish homework and you act like I'm turning water to wine, but when I reconstruct your appearance by some of the most extreme measures possible, all I get is 'wow'?"

Roxas grinned up at his twin, prompting her to roll her eyes.

The boy had the courtesy to at least _feign_ embarrassment. He rubbed a hand on the nape of his neck and cast his eyes downward to help him fit the part. "Sorry, you know it looks amazing," he paused for a beat, his face shedding guilt in favor of annoyance, "But shouldn't you be more worried about thanking me for doing this in the first place?"

Seemingly satisfied, the girl beamed like a flower in spring. "Yeah, thanks Roxas." As she finished, she bent over her twin and pecked a kiss on his cheek.

Roxas swatted her away, "Gross, Namine, quit it!"

His sister giggled, ruffling his hair, and darted out of reach before he could hit her. "Anything for my baby brother," she taunted.

A heated glare filled the boy's eyes as he tried to wipe the sickening feel of his sister's mocking affection off his face with the back of his hand. "You _so_ owe me for this; and only by two minutes so don't call me that!"

"I know, and not a chance," she stated flippantly, inspecting her cuticles to reassure him that she wasn't listening, a familiar smirk curling the edges of her lips. Before he could think of a response, Namine dropped her hand and faced him, excited anew, "Anyway, let's review. I'll be going to art school in France while you…" the petite girl began to circle Roxas as she waited for him to finish her sentence, subconsciously letting her fingers trail on the edge of his chair.

Roxas made a point to let a sarcastic monotone fill his words as he cooperated. "Become you, take your place at the Hollow Bastion Girl's Boarding Academy, and make sure Mom stays clueless." The two of them had been through this more times than he could count. It had grown to be near a chore for him, and he couldn't deny himself the satisfaction he felt when her head tilted sharply to throw him a disapproving look.

"Right," the girl continued, vaguely annoyed, "Mom thinks you're going off to live with Dad until next summer and Dad thinks you're still living with Mom. Since he moves around so much with his band, and he doesn't waste money on excess things like internet or cell phones, our old man is almost unreachable for Mom, so she won't be able to accidentally find out about our scheming from his end." Namine shivered at the butterflies in her stomach.

Roxas kicked the floor to send himself spinning in his chair, "And none of our friends know about this, so if I need help, and you can't provide it from far far away, I'm fucked," Roxas drawled, resting a bored face in his palm as the chair slowed to a stop.

This time, Namine flashed a toothy grin and crouched down in front of her brother, depositing her chin into his lap, not unlike the way a dog would to their owner. "Oh, cheer up. You're like James Bond, taking your missions by your manly self!"

"Except I don't think James Bond ever cross dresses, and I know he isn't gay," Roxas protested.

"So you haven't found my stash?" Namine said offhandedly as she stood and moved to investigate some fascinating thing in the corner.

Roxas wrinkled his nose in disgust, "Dear God, if you are talking about some sort of weird James Bond fetish porn, I _do not_ want to know! Keep your freaky hobbies to yourself!"

His sister only giggled, "Anyway, you're alone to solve your own problems until I get back before winter break. No one is to find out, on pain of death." As her sing-song voice unleashed the threat, she casted a warning glare at her brother.

"Right," the boy sighed slowly, "I can't believe we're doing all this just so you can go to an art school."

"In France," Namine reminded him.

"In France," Roxas repeated, even though it meant near to nothing to him. Location aside, their plan was still ridiculous.

Slightly perturbed by her brother's last-minute melancholy, she returned to his side and asked quietly, "Besides, aren't you the one who told me 'Nam, if you can't get what you want, break some rules until you can?'"

Roxas mumbled begrudgingly, "I wish I hadn't."

"What did you say?" Namine made sure her look was painfully acute, and only relented with a satisfied grin when Roxas winced.

"Nothing," he forced, hating the fact that losses like this happened on a regular basis when his sister was involved.

Said sister, however, was smiling ecstatically. "That's what I thought."

**Chapter one should be posted momentarily... but I'll just make my pleas here in hopes that you'll read them 8D **

**PLEASE REVIEW! If not on this chapter, then on the next (the prologue isn't a lot to work with, but I'd like to hear your first impressions after the first chapter!).**

** Keep in mind: My attention is constantly being fought over between this story, and the other one that I'm publishing. The more attention this fic gets online, the more effort I'll put into speedy updates! **

**~Ta-ta for now!**

***is excited, and you should be too!***

**~LUV YOU ALL! THANKS FOR STICKING WITH ME ALL THIS TIME!  
**


	2. Unprepared and Leaping Into Danger

**Can I get a woot? Read Now! No useless author's commentary to be seen here!**

**;D**

**_Early September…_**

Blue eyes carefully scanned their surroundings from a yellow VW bug. Roxas counted the houses, all carefully lined up; almost comically so. He started over several times, forgetting the number he was on.

"Namine, honey, stop fidgeting." Roxas stiffened and lowered his hands to his lap. He still wasn't used to the wig yet, but his mom knew Namine better than the strangers he would have to face at this school, who didn't know her at all. This meant that she would notice when he did things that Namine normally wouldn't, such as playing with her hair. "Sweetie, you'll love it here. Don't be nervous. I'm sure you'll make lots of friends with the other girls, and maybe even a cute boy if you're lucky!"

_Like hell. _"Mom, if you want me to meet boys so badly, why send me to an all-girl school?" he asked. His voice was sarcastic, almost bitter, when the response came out. His mother was an indescribable airhead who cared for nothing more than the happiness of her family; overbearingly so. He, on the other hand, was a teenager, and the annoyance with his mother was something that wouldn't waver until he was 18 and moved out.

"What, dear? I didn't catch that," his mother asked, innocently.

Rolling his eyes, the boy re-deposited his face into the palm of his hand, looking back out the window.

"Nothing," he replied, tiredly.

Roxas was careful not to lean too far over. The top was down, and he wasn't sure if the wig would stay on if he stuck his head out into the wind. Then, he saw it.

A tall iron gate was opened outward, inviting their car, along with a few others, down the road into the school. Over the top a banner hung saying "WELCOME, NEW STUDENTS!"

'_Hmmm… Festive. I bet they wouldn't welcome me if they knew what was under my skirt.'_

"Namine, are you alright?" Roxas' mother reached over and felt his forehead as their car crawled through the entrance.

"I'm fine, mom". It was a good thing that after his mom left Roxas wouldn't have to see her again until next summer, since he would be staying at school over holidays. Still, he needed more time to practice being his sister before talking to her wouldn't prove hazardous even over the phone.

The building they approached was the school itself. The dormitory was a mile down the road once outside of the gate, and it was big. According to the brochure they had received, there was a fully equipped sports field behind the building before them. As for the school itself? Three stories of antique brick and sleight shingles with wrought iron window frames. It was nice. There was even a properly groomed lawn in front of the school, with a cement path leading up to the grand oak doors.

The doors were left open for the day. Roxas and his mother walked into the school and were immediately greeted by a cheerful woman with a ridiculous pink bow on her head.

"Hello, my name is Miss Gainsborough. Welcome to our school!" Roxas' mother shook the woman's hand as she eyed her suspiciously. How could someone with such a stupid bow on their head be allowed to teach at such a 'prestigious' school? Hopefully, she wasn't the principle.

"Nice to meet you, Miss. Gainsborough. This is my daughter, Namine." Even though it wasn't really his name, Roxas looked up to find the woman's hand extended towards him now.

"Hello, nice to meet you", Roxas made an effort not to say too much. Namine never said more than she had to without being rude; or at least to everyone besides her brother and a handful of select friends.

After a brief exchange of small talk between his mother and Miss Gainsborough, Roxas learned that she really was too ridiculous to teach after all. She was the school nurse, and apparently, they didn't have enough for their nurses to do, so she doubled as a councilor.

"Namine, aren't you listening?" Roxas looked up from his thinking to find his mother teary-eyed and looking at him expectantly.

"Hmm?"

"I said, I'll miss you!" the boy, small for his age, was wrapped into an overwhelmingly tight hug. _If she is going to miss Namine this much, why was she sending the girl to a boarding school?_

"Yeah mom, you too." Roxas' mom pulled back with a sigh, patting the wrinkles out of her blue skirt-suit.

"Be good. I love you!" And with that, Roxas was free from his mother until she felt compelled to call him. With luck, she would forget both her children without a second thought. An unlikely outcome, but desirable none the less.

Roxas had already given his bags to the custodian, who would deliver them to his room for him. He walked over to the registration table where Aerith had brought him to fill out some simple paperwork and surveys asking about his transfer. There, he met the principle, Miss Lockhart, and Jesus; she was a piece of work. She seemed friendly enough, of course, until one girl made a rude remark about the size of her chest. She had practically thrown the registration table at the poor thing.

A few more transfer student arrivals later and Aerith stopped pressuring Roxas to fill out anonymous surveys. She left him in favor of the new students, much to his relief, and he took his leave of the school, deciding that the surveys could fill out themselves.

Without anything left to do at the school, Roxas took his leave and began walking over to the dormitory. It was pleasant weather. The sun was out, but there were enough clouds to keep the temperature down. He strolled contently down the narrow one-way street that connected the dorms to the school. He was wearing a white shirt with a botched bra so that he didn't look totally flat, a pair of Namine's jeans and some white flats. Girl's clothes weren't the most comfortable things ever, but Roxas had gotten used to them over the past month or so. The one thing he had refused was a purse. Instead, they compromised with a black and white checkered messenger bag that hung over his shoulder. In it would dwell his phone, wallet, a CD-player, and several sheets of paper the registration lady had given him.

Roxas counted the lines on the sidewalk as he stepped over them, not really paying attention to where he was going. '_I should probably start memorizing my schedule'_, he thought_._ With a sigh, Roxas pulled the sheet from his bag and began reading the classes…

_Spanish 2, Biology Lab, English Lit., U.S. History, Lunch, Math, P.E., and Music._

Music? He hadn't signed up for that. Maybe it was mandatory? He didn't play ab instrument, so that would be an interesting thing for the teacher to work out.

Roxas continued reading, without looking up, and ran into something.

"Ouch!" a girl yelped, and Roxas' eyes snapped up to find a redhead he didn't recognize. As she was rubbing her forhead, he noticed the schedule in her hand.

"Excuse me, but do you go to the boarding school here?" asked Roxas tentatively; he wasn't terribly embarrassed because the girl had made the same error as him: teenage stupidity, aka, thinking you can multitask while walking and failing. The same applied for driving. But even so, he didn't want to make enemies before school had even started. That was the last thing he needed.

The girl eyed him carefully, lowering her hand from her face. With an affirmative nod, she smiled suddenly and stuck out her hand. "Yeah, my name is Kairi," Roxas returned the gesture, smiling and shaking her hand. Kairi's smile faded into an amused smirk as she continued, "but if you're looking for the dorms, you passed the entrance about a block ago."

Roxas spun around, frantically realizing how stupid he mus. Namine was going to kill him if she heard about any sort of bad impressions he'd made in her place.

Kairi laughed, drawing his attention back to her. "You're weird. You're supposed to tell me your name. You can be embarrassed later."

Roxas' face turned scarlet as he mumbled, "I'm Ro-er-Namine." He mentally punched himself. First student he meets, and he nearly fucks up with the name. He needed to focus. There wasn't any room for error.

Kairi eyed him for a moment. He expected the girl to shrug him off as some strange loser, but instead she latched onto his arm and dragged him back toward the dorm. It was at this moment that he realized he was in way over his head. No amount of preparation could have prepared him for this year. Girls were just too different! Any guy would have ignored him after an encounter like that, but this girl was acting as if they were dating… except he was supposed to be a girl she just met. The situation didn't add up.

Kairi looked up to notice Roxas' perplexed expression and sighed, stopping in front of the dorm's entrance. Roxas peered in, noticing that there were three buildings. His face scrunched up in confusion, how was he supposed know what building to go into? There were two taller ones, and a shorter one. He looked down at his schedule, which was immediately snatched up by Kairi.

"Hey…" he started to protest, but stopped when he saw her scanning between both her schedule and his own. What the hell was she doing?

The boy in disguise stood silently for a long minute before Kairi looked up at him, grinning. She shoved the yellow paper back at him, which he accepted cautiously, and folded her own back up. "I was afraid of who your roommate might be. You seem shy, so I wouldn't want to see you in a room with someone like Paine." '_Paine? Is that supposed to be someone's name?'_ he fathomed. Kairi explained, pausing to tap a delicate finger to her chin in thought before answering an unasked question, "It's just that she can be a lot to handle for the new girl on campus," grinning she gave Roxas a wink, "Don't worry though, you aren't with her."

"Oh," the blonde said, dumbly. Roxas tilted his head, confused from the fast-talking. They had roommates? How did she know who his roommate was if it wasn't on his schedule? Before he had a chance break down from brain overload, Kairi re-attached herself to his arm, once again dragging him towards the dorms.

"We're both in dorm one. My room is down the hall from yours. I noticed you're a junior, just like me. We have Spanish, Bio-Lab, and Math together. Oh, I can't wait!" she squealed. Roxas' head was spinning. He could definitely wait for school to start, and wasn't sure he could begin to understand why them having classes in common was worth all the excitement. Kairi stopped in front of the dorms and turned the adjacent 'girl' to face herself. A suddenly seriously look on her face, "I can already tell that we're going to get along great."

Roxas blinked a few times. Okay… this was a bit strange. Wasn't it? Maybe it was normal in girl-world to randomly drag around people you just met and tell them about how you'll get along great? He didn't try to figure it out. He'd given up on understanding. Instead, he tried to get his previous question answered. Hesitantly, he asked, "Umm, thanks, Kairi; but how did you know what building we're in? All it said on the schedule was that I was in room 18."

Kairi motioned towards the middle building and then to the one on the left, respectively, "Freshmen and sophomores are in dorm two, juniors and seniors in dorm one." She let her arm drop and faced Roxas cheerily, "First floor is a common room; the nurse's office is in dorm two, etc… The cafeteria is in that short building on the other side of dorm two." Roxas nodded silently. Thankful, if for nothing else, to know where to go for food. Kairi patted him on the back and continued walking towards the front steps of dorm 1, "You're lucky you didn't come here your first two years; dorm two has common showers." The girl wrinkled her nose in disgust, "Gross." Glancing back to Roxas, she tilted her head questioningly, "Speaking of which, where did you go before here?"

Roxas stared at Kairi, taking a moment to soak in all the words that had come out of her mouth. Talking with girls would definitely take some getting used to. And lots of patience. Namine wasn't like this, was she? He couldn't remember any of the girls he knew talking to him this… excessively. He decided to ponder it later.

The small blonde replied as simply as possible, looking towards the building as they got closer to the entrance, "I just went to a public school in twilight town. My parents finally legalized their divorce after 4 years, so we moved to Hollow Bastion over the summer because my mom could finally sell our house."

Kairi sighed, "Oh, I see. So, you got any siblings going here? I have two brothers, and my sister Selphie is a freshman."

Roxas shook his head, sputtering a bit when the hair hit his face, and eventually managing to reply, "No, just my brother; but he's living with my dad."

Kairi halted. She seemed to sort of… appear in front of Roxas. He wasn't sure how she got there, but both her hands were on his shoulders, and he suddenly felt like this conversation had taken a turn towards interrogation. "A brother? How old his he? Is he hot?"

The boy was beginning to feel seriously nervous; maybe he should just avoid talking about his family altogether. And weren't girls supposed to be the ones who care about personality? Why all the demand over whether he was attractive? Was he attractive?

Before Roxas could answer, a voice called down from the steps to the dorm. "Kairi, the school year hasn't even officially started and already you're trying to find someone to cheat on me with?"

Roxas looked up, startled. Boys weren't allowed on campus were they? No they weren't. The voice came from a girl, taller than him, decked out in a short black shirt and black jeans that were very baggy and hung around her hips. Piercings and wristbands decorated her ears and arms. Her hair was in a short, punk-like style that must have been dyed silvery gray. Roxas didn't have to ask to know this was Paine.

"Oh, you're no fun," replied the petite redhead next to him, pouting to prove her point. Roxas jumped back, startled. Hadn't Kairi just established that Paine someone to avoid?

Paine had a bored look on her face as she allowed her eyes to roll down and focus on Kairi, "Says you." The girl, who had been sitting on the railing of the dormitory's stairs, hopped down and stood waiting.

Kairi finally detached herself from Roxas, only to walk up to Paine and pull her down into a forceful kiss. Roxas could feel his jaw dropping. What the hell was this? Luckily, they took their time sucking face, so he was able to regain composure before Kairi looked back over, arm around Paine's waist. They were an odd couple. Kairi, with her natural burgundy hair, blue eyes, and dressed in a white polo with a blue plaid miniskirt; and Paine, who looked like she belonged in a gang. Or a dark alley. But with the look he saw in Kairi's eye, he decided he needed to get to know them better before he judged. He had a hunch that the girl's personality was deeper than first impressions could tell.

"Namine, this is my girlfriend Paine." Paine nodded to him, and he made a weak attempt to smile back. Wasn't Kairi also asking if he had a hot brother not too long ago? Kairi waved, "Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow," she looked up to Paine, "I have a feeling that I'll be busy for the rest of the night." Paine's face remained blank and stoic as Kairi pulled her into the dormitory, chatting her up about how summer had been.

Roxas let out a deep breath. This was going to be a long year.

**Xxx**

The hallway was painted white, and the carpet was some ugly color that had so many grays and beiges that he wasn't sure what to call it. He passed a few girls chatting in the common room, but other than that the place was pretty empty. His phone had told him it was only 5:00, so most of the students were probably out in the city, enjoying their last day of freedom.

Roxas continued to about halfway down the hallway, counting the room numbers under his breath,"14, 16… 18."

He dug out his key, but when he raised it to unlock the door, he noticed it had been left ajar. Roxas swallowed. Hard. He didn't mind Kairi too much, but he really hoped his roommate was a bit less… overwhelming.

He chewed on his lip, ordering himself to be a man and suck it up, and knocked on the door.

"Come in," called a voice from inside the room. Roxas opened the door to find a girl, who he assumed was his roommate, laying on the bottom bunk and reading. The small blonde frowned inwardly as he noticed that Paine, and now this girl, were both significantly taller than him. He was never really self conscious about his height, or lack of it, but the fact that he fit his petite sister's profile so well was a bit unnerving. He was a guy after all, despite the flats and fake bra.

His assumed roommate looked up from her book, which he noticed was in French. The girl had blonde hair cut to her chin and pale green eyes. Her eyes quickly ran him up and down in assessment before she settled on his face and smirked at him. Roxas took a step forward, setting his bag down next to him and noticing his packed suitcases already on the top bunk waiting for him.

"I'm guessing you're my roomie?" asked the girl, her gaze unnervingly steady on him.

Roxas gulped,"Umm, yeah, I'm Namine."

Larxene stood and set her book on one of the two desks, holding her hand out to Roxas. "I'm Larxene."

Roxas shook her hand silently as she seemed to analyze him. It didn't take him long to realize that her smirk was another form of a blank face. She was hiding her thoughts of him behind that mask of a face. It didn't comfort him, knowing that.

Suddenly, the room seemed very small. How was he supposed to live with a girl for a year without getting caught? And thank god they had their own bathroom, because he didn't think dorm-wide showers would do anything but complicate his life.

As if a switch was flipped, Larxene's face relaxed into a curious smile. "Damn. Who have you ran into so far? You look scared to death. And your hands are all clammy."

Roxas, realizing they were still shaking hands, withdrew his nervously. He thought for a moment before audibly reciting the events of the day to Larxene, "I met the school nurse when I registered. And a girl named Kairi. I ran into her on the way ov-"

"That explains it," Larxene interrupted, snapping her fingers in conclusion. She knew Kairi? Her expression changed to a mischievous one as she continued, "That girl will screw anything that moves. I swear, she's an embarrassment to womankind!" Larxene nearly shouted. Roxas cocked his head, unsure whether he had missed the reason why she being unnecessarily loud, or if his roommate was even more psychotic than the girl they were speaking of.

"At least I'm not an over-analytical bitch!" shouted Kairi from down the hall. Roxas jumped from the response, startled. Larxene grinned. _What the hell?_

"Hey slut! Try not freaking out my roommate before I get a chance to warn her, okay?" By now, Roxas was being completely overlooked. Larxene hadn't moved an inch, but lowered her previously raised hand from her mouth to unveil a satisfied grin.

Kairi's head suddenly appeared in their doorway, her hair was messy and her make-up smeared. She had a menacing grin to match Larxene's. Kairi wasted no time in replying, "Too late. And at least I get some. Honestly Lar, get a boyfriend or something!" the girl turned to Roxas, who was too stunned for words. She offered an apologetic look as she continued, "Sorry Namine, but once I saw your room number I knew you were with miss chastity police and couldn't help myself."

"God, Kairi, at it already?" Roxas jumped out of the way as Larxene brushed past him to lift up strands of Kairi's hair as if they were alive and squirming.

Kairi's face took on an annoyed demeanor as she groaned and replied, "Not at the moment, but I would like to be, so if you'll excuse me…" and then she was gone. Roxas stood, staring at Larxene. Where had this sort of behavior been when he interacted with the girls at his old school?

**Xxx**

"So does that mean you're friends with her?" Roxas asked as he lifted a blouse from his trunk, forcing himself not to wince at the ruffles.

"With who?" the taller blonde asked, uninterested, as she turned a page in her book. She was back where the boy had found her, reading on her bed; apparently having unpacked before he'd arrived.

"Kairi." Roxas flicked a glance over to watch her reaction.

Larxene smiled, as if she was remembering something pleasant; her eyes lingering on the page in her book, "Yeah, I guess our interactions would confuse most people." The older girl rolled over onto her stomach so that she was looking at Roxas. "Our parents know each other, so we've been friends since we were kids." Roxas mouthed an understanding 'oh' and continued to unpack as Larxene sighed, further explaining, "They don't know it, but Kairi is bi and a total skank. Her parents are important people and it would be bad for their reputation if she came out, so she makes sure to rub it in people's faces whenever she gets the chance." Larxene paused for thought before beginning her words again, slowly, "It's almost as if her goal in life is to have sex with as many people as possible until she gets some weird disease that prevents her from doing so. I wonder what convinces Paine to go steady with her."

Roxas continued unpacking and nodded, not sure he understood, but accepting it. He and Larxene hadn't talked much yet, but she seemed like someone he wouldn't mind having for a roommate.

Glancing at the other girl, and seeing that she was still staring at something he couldn't see, he chanced progressing the comprehension, "So basically, since she can't act that way in front of her parents or their friends, she makes up for it by being over-the-top when they aren't around?" He was curious. Honest. And it sounded like Kairi's life was probably a lot harder than his. But he couldn't deny that he was sort of half-using this topic to open things up between himself and Larxene. He wanted a friend. He needed an ally. Who better than the girl he'd be living with for the next nine months?

Larxene smiled, "Exactly. Therefore, it's actually complimentary for me to call her a whore."

_Oh_. So that's how it worked. Roxas smiled and shook his head in disbelief; this definitely was not what he had expected, coming to this school.

"What about you?" Larxene retired her book to the desk, and was focused on Roxas.

The boy blinked. "What about me?"

"What way do you swing?" Roxas paused in his unpacking. How should he answer this? If he said he was gay, they would think he liked girls. But being straight wasn't entirely accurate either…

"Umm…" Roxas glanced at Larxene, who had arched an eyebrow at the amount of time it was taking to answer.

Larxene chuckled, "I'm okay with it if you like girls. Its not my thing, but I don't…"

Roxas sat up, waving his hands, "That's not it! It's just…" he frowned, "complicated."

Larxene sat up, a critical look on her face, "It's not a complicated question. Do you like girls, boys or both?"

Roxas looked around, at anything but his roommate. How should he answer? He settled for the truth. "I like guys." He said in a quiet voice. He had never told anyone but his sister that he was gay, but technically this didn't count as coming out of the closet. Still, he felt nervous, let alone embarrassed, saying it.

Larxene, on the other hand, let out a sigh of relief and flopped onto her bed. "Well, I can say I'm glad I don't have to worry about you taking advantage of me or something."

Roxas opened his mouth, closed his mouth, and opened it again, "I-I wouldn't…"

Larxene laughed, rolling her eyes to look down at Roxas, who had been sitting on the floor in front of his dresser for the entire conversation.

"I was kidding," she relented.

Roxas blushed. Of course she was. She was friends with Kairi, wasn't she?

Larxene stood up and walked over to Roxas. There was a kind of sparkle in her eye. It was a smirk, but it wasn't her mask of a grin. She was sincerely amused. "I like you, Namine," she commented, mussing with his hair.

_Shit. _He caught his breath when, for a moment, her eyes narrowed and she held her hand still against his hair a bit longer than necessary. Was the wig loose? Did she feel something? Soon enough she let her hand fall, and he felt a relieved sigh escape him. Larxene returned to grinning.

Crouching down next to him, she spoke again, "Anyway, I'm your roommate for the year, and your upperclassman since I'm a senior." They locked gazes and she put her hand on his shoulder. "If you need anything, feel free to ask me. From where I stand, we are friends at this point, and I look out for my friends." Roxas felt himself smiling. He was growing quite fond of Larxene. Thank the gods that Kairi or Paine weren't his roommate.

"And feel free to talk to me," she said warmly, taking her hand off his shoulder, her face suddenly serious, "As roommates we need to be open with each other." Her serious composure slipped into the blank-faced grin, making his stomach clench. What was she hiding behind it this time? "Don't worry, I can keep a secret."

Roxas held his breath for the second time in the past few minutes, praying that she didn't know anything; but after a few seconds of anticipatory worry, she turned and walked back to her bed, turning off all of the lights except one that was left for the upper bunk. "School starts tomorrow, so don't stay up too late," she called.

Roxas wasn't sure what to make of this. He was in deep shit if someone already knew about his secret. Instead of letting it bother him, he finished unpacking and made use of the bathroom to change. Larxene was asleep when he came back out.

Roxas' feet padded quietly across the floor, over to the ladder, and he began climbing to his bunk, stopping to glance at Larxene. He smiled silently to himself. There was no way she knew already. She would have said something, and probably gotten him kicked out.

Either that, or… she was a more valuable friend than he would have ever imagined someone could be for a kid they'd just met. Roxas turned off the lamp next to his bed, and snuggled under his covers. He looked up into the night sky through the window in the wall above his bunk. The moon was full.

His observations after the encounter with Kairi had been right; he wasn't ready for the world of girls in the least. Hopefully he could learn a few things from rooming with Larxene. Maybe even Kairi; although, he doubted that. Definitely not from Paine.

'_Namine, wherever you are now, I hope you're wishing me luck. I need all the help I can get.'_

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep, thinking of what he was going to tell his sister about his first day. He didn't dream that night, and it felt like no time at all had passed before he felt someone shaking him.

"Uhhgg… What is it?" Roxas rolled towards whoever was shaking him, blinking at the bright light the sun cast on his room. Larxene stood in front of the beds, already showered and changed.

"Namine, wake up! You slept through your alarm while I was in the shower and if you don't book it, you're going to be late!"

Roxas sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "Late? For what?" he mumbled, mind foggy.

Larxene rolled her eyes and threw his uniform at him, "School, you idiot; today is the first day of school!"

**If you didn't read the last chapter's ending AN then I suggest it. If you're too lazy, then read this: REVIEW, DAMMIT! I wants an feedbacks pleeeze 8D**


	3. First Days: Always Exciting

**Updating again because I can. Yay Friday! Lol hope you like **

Roxas, at the moment, was wondering why he was putting himself through this. A voice in his head told him it was because he was a good brother that cared for his sister, but he shut that voice up very quickly. Roxas was carefully etching a reminder into his mind to tell anyone else he met that decided to cross-dress to avoid skirts at all costs; it was the fact that Roxas had to run in a skirt that was making him second-guess his initially good-willed sacrifice. Now, he just wanted to go home.

Larxene had left after waking him up, but it wasn't like he could ask her to stay and wait for him only so they could be late together. The school uniform, which he assumed Larxene had pulled out of the closet for him, was a white long-sleeved blouse under a black jacket with HB and the academy crest embroidered on the left lapel over a matching knee-length skirt with knee-high white socks and black shoes.

Roxas wasn't used to wearing a skirt. Sure he had tried once or twice before because Namine had forced him, but it still felt weird. Not that he could spare much of his attention for the weirdness of skirts. The blonde sprinted down the one-way street, earning stares from passing cars or students from other schools. First period; that was Spanish, right?

Just as the bell rang, Roxas flung himself through the doorway into the Spanish room. The students stared at him wordlessly as he panted and wheezed, bending over to support himself as he caught his breath. He walked himself over to the first available desk, delighted to find it was in the back, and fell into it, dropping his bag next to him.

Kairi waved at him energetically from a few seats over. He forced a smile, and waved back, trying not to wheeze.

The teacher, who had been sitting on his desk in the front, raised an eyebrow in interest. If Roxas hadn't just sprinted a mile in the morning heat of late-summer Hollow Bastion, he would have wondered why he was the one receiving weird looks, when his teacher was the one sitting on his desk, when there was a perfectly usable chair directly behind said desk.

"My name is Cid," the man began, a protruding toothpick from his mouth bouncing as he talked. "For those of you who are new, and those of you who need some reminding, it's my job as your first period teacher to make sure you don't go about your day ignorant. We have rules and customs, and you'll be expected to uphold them just like everyone else." With the last comment, he looked at Roxas, who shrank into his desk, wishing he could vanish.

Cid wasn't terribly intimidating, but he was still a teacher. Though it was obvious that he was on the back end of being middle aged, he looked good for his age. The man had short blond hair, and serious five o'clock shadow, but was dressed as well as any teacher. He wore a button-up shirt, left open, over a plain t-shirt and slacks. The toothpick was really the only thing that made him look remotely scary. That, and the stern, no-nonsense look in his eyes.

"First, and foremost, we have a policy at this school that states our students and teachers get to know each other on an individual bases. That means, customarily, we introduce ourselves with first names. We don't call you by your last names; you don't call us by ours." The students nodded. Roxas didn't care. He was too tired to care.

The Spanish teacher looked around the room, content with the level of attention, "This is Spanish level 2. You don't speak the language? You change into level 1. Other than that, I'll let you sit wherever you want, unless you cause trouble." A few kids chuckled at some inside jokes, but other than that and the shuffling of papers, the room remained silent. Roxas sighed. He was bored already.

Cid tilted his head up and scratched his chin, thoughtfully. "As for the rest of school rules? I'll let someone else tell you all. Just don't do anything dumb. Got it?"

The class nodded, "Yes, Cid."

For the first time that morning, Cid grinned, "Good. Now, take out _los libros_ and turn to page _uno_."

Roxas frowned. So much for having to speak Spanish. This guy seemed to have a total lack of understanding for the language himself.

"PSST!"

Roxas turned and saw Kairi move just in time to raise an arm and catch a crumpled piece of paper. Cautiously, he unfolded it to read,

'_Our Spanish teacher last year got fired for locking students who spoke English during his class into the storage closet, so they had to find someone to fill the job on short notice. Cid usually teaches the auto-shop class for seniors, but he teaches Spanish now on top of that. I hear its because he lived in Mexico for a few years. Lucky for us he doesn't know anything past slang, swear words, and some basic vocab that everyone knows,_'

Roxas glanced up at Kairi, who frowned and made a writing motion with an imaginary pen in the air. Roxas looked back down at the paper and continued reading,

'_We have next period together too. I'll walk you to it. In the mean time, do you have a boyfriend? Girlfriend? Can I set you up with someone? PLEASE? PLEASE? You're too cute to be single!"_

Roxas groaned inwardly. At least now he knew what to say when she asked if his brother was attractive again. Reaching over the side of his desk, he dug out a pen from the black hole of a bag, and began to scrawl out his response,

'_Cool about the Spanish teacher. Hopefully that means he won't give homework. I'm single. Don't set me up. I'm content to be single.'_

The boy smirked at the thought of Kairi trying to set him up with some poor strait guy. That would end disastrously.

Checking to make sure Cid wasn't looking; he crumpled up the paper and threw it back to Kairi. It wasn't long before he heard her scoff at his response. The blonde chuckled quietly at the outraged noise.

Apparently Cid heard the noise too. Turning from the whiteboard, his gaze honed in on the redheaded girl it had come from. "Is there a problem, Kairi?"

Kairi shook her head, sending her burgundy hair flying as she smirked, "Sorry, Cid. Maybe I should go down to see Aerith? I think I'm allergic to school. It might be deadly."

Cid threw his eraser at her, which she dodged expertly. He threw her a grin, obviously pleased. "Go see that damn Martha-Stewart wannabe on your own time. You're mine until the hour ends."

Kairi feigned despair at the thought; Cid ignored her to turn and continue trying to write his name on the board in cursive, which Roxas had begun to find amusing as hell.

Soon enough class ended and the bell rang. It was beginning to turn into a custom for Kairi to drag Roxas places instead walking together like normal people; but he was gradually growing used to Kairi's spastic actions anyway, and was thankful to have someone show him to his next class.

As they made their way through the hallway, the small blonde noticed a few questionable things. One of the most prominent being that skirt lengths varied. He would later find out from Kairi that several girls, herself included, would alter the skirts to make them shorter. When he asked why they did this, she gave him a chastising look and told him it was so more boys would look at them. Roxas kept to himself the comment that it was a girl's school, meaning boys wouldn't be seeing them in their uniforms unless they wore them off campus. He didn't want to deal with the aftermath of disrupting feminine logic.

His second class, Bio-lab, was fairly uneventful, if a bit scary. His teacher, Vexen, had tried to replicate a student. When she wouldn't let him, he spent the remainder of the period lecturing the class on the decomposition of molecular bonds over time, and demanded that everyone memorize the periodic table of elements before the end of the week.

Third period was Roxas' first of the day without Kairi. He wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing, but either way he was happy to sleep through an incredibly dry lecture on comparative literature from the Renaissance and earlier. His teacher, Zexion, seemed to think that it was much more fascinating than any of his student would ever agree to. At least he had the courtesy to let them ignore him in favor of any number of entertaining activities including, but not limited to, doodling, napping, and making origami out of sticky notes.

It was during this class that he met Rikku. The girl, once again someone much taller than unusually small boy, had three classes with him and offered her services as a human GPS system to their history class. Similarly to Kairi, Roxas was dragged through the hallway while the dirty-blonde chattered cheerfully about the coming year; but unlike the slightly more violent and/or vulgar situations with Kairi, Roxas didn't find Rikku strange in the least. She was just bubbly. He couldn't explain whether or not hers was a different form of harassment and invasion than that of Kairi, or if he'd simply been desensitized over the past 24 hours, but he found Rikku's company pleasant, and spent fourth period poking fun at their professor, Marluxia, who was about as manly as someone could be with shoulder-length pink hair. Books were thrown. Roxas distantly wondered if the teachers at this school suffered from a common disorder where they compulsively threw things at their students.

Laughing as they exited their class, Rikku linked arms with Roxas once again before waving an arm to declare, "Off to lunch!", her mass of braids and ponytail bouncing as she walked.

"Lunch?" Roxas repeated, distantly.

Rikku peered down at him curiously, "Yes. Lunch. Where we eat food, and gossip about boys."

Roxas chuckled, "Sorry, I was just surprised. I forgot that lunch was after fourth period."

The smaller blonde made a mental note as Rikku detached herself temporarily to go tackle some friend she hadn't seen all summer. The girl was a bombshell; gay or not, he had to it admit to himself. Kairi, though she was attractive and cleaned up really nicely, was comparatively plain. Roxas wasn't thinking this in a sexual way, simply assessing it the same way a girl would size up another girl. Not that HE knew girls did that. Not yet, anyway.

He observed that her sea-green eyes were an unusually gorgeous color, and lit up when she smiled. Her skin had a natural golden tint to it, just short of being considered a real tan. Something that lingered year round, even without the sun. Her hair, a dark golden-blonde with natural sun-thirsty highlights weaved into it. And on top of it, her body was a perfect hourglass figure. Her waste was small and trim, and her legs seemed to go on for miles (Thus, the height that towered over Roxas'). The boy was inwardly glad that he'd never have to compete with girls' appearances. Physically, he'd just never win. Rikku was proof of that.

When the cafeteria was reached, Roxas quickly noticed how packed with students it was as all four grades tried to fit into the small building. The sun beat down ruthlessly. The temperature was scorching. There wasn't a tree in sight. Hordes of girls rushed to grab a spot at a table inside so they wouldn't have to eat without the comfort of air-conditioning.

Moments after turning away from the food counter with his lunch, Roxas spotted Larxene and Kairi waving him over. Rikku had gone ahead, and was already talking energetically with a girl he didn't recognize.

"Hi, Namine! How are your classes so far?" greeted Larxene.

Roxas sighed, exasperated, "Boring as hell! My Bio teacher is scary, my Lit teacher put me to sleep, and my history teacher throws books at kids."

Kairi bit into an apple, bits of juice escaping her mouth as she spoke, "Sounds like a pretty good first day; at least compared to mine. I already have three detentions."

The surrounding girls stared speechless at the petite girl. She simply took another bite into her fuji, oblivious to the attention.

Frowning, the Larxene asked, "How the hell did you manage to get three detentions within the first four periods of your first day of school?"

Kairi raised a finger in a 'sush-ing' motion. "It's a secret," she whispered.

The taller girl cursed under her breath as her long arm fished under the table and brought up Kairi's bag.

Instantly, the younger of the two was leaping over the table, attempting to retrieve her belongings. "Hey, bitch, that's my bag!" she yelled, grabbing for the over-sized purse, only to miss by an humiliatingly large distance.

"And these," Larxene withdrew her hand from a pocket with three rectangular pieces of paper. She grinned wickedly as her eye sparkled, raising her prize up to where Kairi could never reach, "Are your detentions."

Kairi's silent protests were marked by her crossed arms and pouting lip. Roxas smirked. She looked like a reluctant five year old that wasn't going to get the cookie she wanted.

Rikku squealed as if to let out some of her overflowing excitement, "Larxene what do they say? Read them aloud!"

Turning to the detentions, Larxene flipped through them one by one, only to frown.

Rikku tilted her head, "What are they for, Lar?"

The older girl turned to Kairi, raising a questioning eyebrow. "Kairi. These are all for being late to class. They aren't even from this year. Third, fourth, and seventh period from last year. What the hell?"

Kairi smirked. "Those are detentions from the end of last year that I thought I wouldn't have to serve, since they were given to me a day or two before school got out."

Larxene face palmed, "Dumbass. Why the hell would you skip in the last week of school? It's easy! No lesson, no homework, no essays…" the girl looked up and saw the glint in Kairi's eyes before her expression changed and an imaginary light bulb went on above her head. "Oh. Never mind. I don't want to know," she rushed to say, eyes wide.

Rikku's brows met each other in her confusion. "Why did you skip last year, Kairi? I want to know!" she demanded.

Larxene raised an alarmed hand, facing Rikku, "No, you don't. Seriously."

Rikku shut her mouth and reluctantly turned her back on them to resume a conversation with the girl across the table from her. Paine and Larxene were sitting on either side of Kairi, and Roxas took the pause in conversation as an opportunity to sit down next to Rikku, roughly across from Larxene and Kairi. He glanced at Paine, who stared solemnly at Kairi, only breaking composure to nod at whatever she said. Her plain, stoic gaze the same as ever.

Roxas turned to Larxene and flashed a wide smile, "So how have your classes been?"

**Xxx**

By the end of lunch, Roxas had learned that he was older than only Rikku at their table. Kairi, Rikku, and he were the juniors of their little group; Larxene, Paine and Yuna, the girl Rikku had been talking to, were seniors. It turned out that Rikku and Yuna were cousins. Kairi's sister, Selphie, sat at another table with her freshmen friends, but someone had pointed her out to him, so now the boy knew who she was.

His math class would be shared with Larxene, who had failed math the year before, and Kairi. He had P.E. with Rikku, Larxene, and Paine, and then his last class, Music, was shared with Yuna, who he learned was a fairly accomplished singer, and Paine. No one explained Paine's presence in the music department, but he'd been too intimidated to ask, so that was arguably his own fault.

"So what's our math teacher like?" questioned Roxas, chewing on a carrot absentmindedly, "All my teachers so far have been hell... Except for Cid. He's not too bad."

Kairi and Larxene exchanged glances, before looking back at Roxas. He gave them a questioning look, chewing ever vigorously on the orange vegetable in his mouth.

"Well... Vincent Valentine isn't all bad, I guess," stated Kairi, telling him precicesly nothing. Larxene, picking up on the lack of satisfaction from Roxas, rolled her eyes and slapped her palm onto the table for dramatic emphasis.

"Basically, he's a robot." Her eyes were carefully narrowed as she said this, as if to speak this teachers name was an intolerable act in and of itself.

Kairi looked disgusted at the description, but Rikku's attention had been drawn to the matter.

"Who's a robot?" she chirped, cheerfully.

"Vincent," Kairi drawled. Rikku's skin visibly paled a few shades. Her interest in the subject had died with the name.

"What's wrong with her?" Roxas whispered to the other two girls, waiting until Rikku's attention had been re-consumed by her conversation with Yuna.

Kairi waved a hand as if it painted a perfectly clear picture all on its own, "Oh, she had him for sophomore math last year. He gave her class so much homework that she hardly left her dorm for the entirety of first semester. That is, until she grew a rack, decided she didn't need math to get by, got a boyfriend, and stopped doing her homework altogether."

Roxas blinked slowly. "Oh," he replied. What else could he say to something like that? Still curious, he pushed on, "So what happened after that?"

Kairi and Larxene exchanged glances again.

Larxene took over this time, "She failed second semester, obviously, so Vincent went to the principle and tried to make a case to get her held back a year. They settled on her doing one-on-one math studies with him every day for the entire summer. Her boyfriend dumped her and she had no social life." Rikku winced on the other side of Roxas. She was deliberately trying to stay out of the conversation. Larxene gave her a pitying look, before turning to Roxas and beaming, "But on the bright side, she's a total math wiz now!"

Roxas stared at his roommate in disbelief. What a stiff teacher. "So then, how come you said he's not so bad?" Roxas asked, looking between the two girls across from him. Larxene let a Cheshire grin morph her face.

"You, Kai and I are in the same class, right?" Roxas nodded, "Well, Mr. Vincent doesn't assign seats. He sees it as a waste of time since people will pass or fail regardless of where they sit."

Kairi's eyes rolled up in bliss, and Roxas had to physically check behind him to make sure he wasn't seriously missing something. "It's so awesome, isn't it?" said the redhead.

Roxas frowned, "I don't get it, what's awesome?"

The two looked at Roxas, waiting for him to catch on but he didn't. Larxene sighed, "Namine, have you ever heard of letting the work do itself?" Roxas shook his head. Larxene continued, "Well good. Neither have I, but if we work together to split up the homework he gives us we can all still have at least half a life."

Roxas made a silent oh, and then glanced over to see a glaring Rikku, most likely jealous that she hadn't thought to simply cheat.

A sudden vibration coming from his bag made everyone jump. Roxas reached down to pull out his slim, silver phone, and noticed that everyone, except Paine, had done the same. It was his that was ringing; Roxas could see everyone else's disappointed faces as they put their phones back where they had dug them out of. He snickered to himself, feeling a bit pleased to be the one receiving the phone call; until he saw who was calling.

"Namine, is everything alright? Who's calling you?" Rikku must have seen his eyes go wide as he read Namine's name on his caller ID.

Roxas frantically fought to find words that wouldn't dig knee high in shit, "Umm, its my sister… BROTHER! I meant brother, hehe," Roxas nervously stumbled out from his seat at the cafeteria table, receiving curious glances from Larxene and Rikku. He could tell they were about to stop him and question his strange mood, but Kairi got to them first.

"Oh yeah guys, Namine says she has this super gorgeous brother that is totally single and way sensitive!" Kairi had immediately grasped the attention of everyone nearby; the unfortunate exception being Larxene, who eyed him suspiciously. I was amazing how much boys could distract these people. Roxas gave a weak smile to Kairi, who winked in return; Larxene, on the other hand, was still watching him suspiciously.

Once out of the cafeteria, Roxas flipped open his phone and held it to his ear. "Nam, why the hell are you calling me? Is something wrong?" Roxas made an attempt to talk quietly in case anyone was close enough to hear.

"Roxas! You will never believe what has happened! So I was out with my friends in Paris, and…"

"Whoa there, slow down," Roxas interrupted. He leaned back against a wall and closed his eyes, fighting off his irritation. "Sorry, I'm glad exciting things are happening down there with you, but I'm trying to maintain your identity here and that will be quite difficult if 'Namine' shows up on my caller ID at random times during the day."

Namine paused to ponder that thought, "Hmm… guess I didn't think of the time difference. It's like, 9:30 at night here so I guess I didn't…"

"Namine, please, just get to the point!"

"Right, sorry, anyway! So I was with my friends, out celebrating how I got an award on one of my drawings, and I met a guy."

"A guy?" her brother repeated blankly. That was all she called about? Honestly, how was that important enough to jeopardize their situation? Wasn't she taking this seriously?

"Well, not just any guy." She began, oblivious to his predicament. "You see, his name is Reno and he works for this guy named Rufus who owns this giant company and they want to expand to France, but that's not the point. You see, he was with some guys we were with and he told me he thought I…"

Roxas looked up, startled, as he heard the bell ring, signaling the end of lunch. _Thank God._

Roxas turned away from the entrance as girls began to pour out of the lunch building, and lifted a hand to help cover his voice."Namine? Listen, I have to go. Send me an e-mail or something and I'll check it on my phone. I love you; Take care of yourself out there."

He could hear some people laughing in the background and calling at Namine to come join them. She said something he couldn't understand before returning her attention to the phone, voice as pleasant as ever, "I will, and you better too! Bye Roxas."

Roxas snapped his phone shut, a sigh of relief escaping him as he saw the students file out of the cafeteria and begin the trek back to campus. He had forgotten how much his sister could talk during the past week and a half or so that she had been in France. (He'd been able to survive pretending to be Namine and living with his mother simultaneously by spending 99% of his conscious time in her bedroom.) Though frankly, thanks to some of the girls at the academy, he shouldn't have.

Roxas turned to go back into the cafeteria and grab his bag, but stopped abruptly when he saw a certain roommate of his come out from behind one of the building's beams. _How long has she been there?_ Roxas tensed up, holding his breath and waiting for the worst.

Before he could get his feet to move, Larxene plastered that blank-face smirk across her face and began walking towards him; Roxas paled. Had she heard something?

The slim blonde bee-lined the last few feet, green eyes sparkling with mischief, to stand next to him and hand him his bag. Roxas made a strangled noise as too many emotions filled him at once. Did this mean she had just been waiting? Did she just want to give him his bag so they could go to class together?

While amidst his thoughts, Roxas hadn't noticed how close Larxene had gotten to him until she placed a hand firmly, almost painfully, onto his shoulder. He looked up at her, terrified. She knew. This was it. It was over. His roommate had found out.

A devilish grin spread across her face as she bent down to whisper in his ear, "So, who is this other Namine you were talking to? And, I wonder, could it possibly be that you are the gorgeous brother that Kairi was gushing over?"

**DUN DUN DUN!**

**Review plz ;D  
**


	4. A Successful Failure

**Oh Jesus... Its been way too long since i've updated OTZ**

**MY LOVELIES I HAVEN'T FORGOTTEN YOU! Thanks so much to any and all that reviewed in the ENOURMOUS dry period... School started, and drama started, and unrequited love fucking SUCKS. I was home sick today, reading a fic, and realized that I wanted to write all of a sudden... Haha. I should do that more often ;D**

**Raven: Wow... to be honest I never really thought about that o_O But here are my theories: 1. Either he's like Kurt from glee, and just has a naturally fabulously feminine voice, or 2. He's Voiced by Jesse McCartney for Christs sake! If that guy can't pull off girl NO ONE CAN.**

**(to those of you who don't get it, Raven asked me how Roxas, as a teenage boy, can pull off a girl's voice. Brilliant question. Good thing we don't have to worry about Practicality in fanfiction X3 Like how Hollow Bastion and Twilight Town exist in the same world as Paris, France in this fic XD YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYY FIIIICCCTIIOOOONNN!)**

**Anywho, I feel the need to get more in touch with all my readers. Give me 8 reviews and bump me to 100 (cuz i like even numbers xp) And I'll update in about a week, Give me 18 reviews and I'll update by Wednesday! My favorite Reviews will get shout outs! And I'll answer any questions I can :D**

**RABURABURABURABURABU!**

**3 Enjoi 3**

The magical thing about bells is that when they ring, and you aren't paying attention, everyone else seems to disappear in the blink of an eye. Roxas was having a similar notion as he waited, afraid to move and attract more attention to himself. Neither he, or the thin girl in front of him seemed all too worried about getting to class on time; but as a few stragglers exited the building, Rikku being half-dragged by Kairi included in the spectacle, Larxene's gaze followed the last girl out of earshot before training its focus onto the 'girl' before her.

Larxene's pale green eyes seemed to grow paler and colder as her brow narrowed in suspicion. The boy had to fight his instinct to keep from wincing. Slowly, he glanced at his shoulder, where the taller girl's hand had remained for the duration of the stampede after lunch. The grip on his shoulder loosened in response, but Roxas' roommate refused to give him the benefit of removing her hand completely.

Roxas seriously felt like he was in an Alfred Hitchcock movie, minus the knives and shower curtains, thanks to all the melodramatic stress. Larxene was still waiting, ever-patient, and he swallowed harshly.

Carefully, he broke the ice and asked her, "How much of that did you hear?"

It took a moment before Roxas could gauge a response. Groaning, the taller blonde dropped her hand from his shoulder and narrowed her eyes at him. "Do you think I'm stupid? I mean, god damn, you're a boy and you thought your FEMALE ROOMMATE would never find out? Ugh. Men!" She waved her arms in an exaggerated manner that had her lanky body looking almost comical, but the situation was hardly laughable, and Roxas could only wince.

"So now what, are you going to turn me in?" asked the boy, dejectedly.

Larxene scoffed and punched him square in the shoulder, eliciting a yelp of pain from her underclassman. Frowning she answered, "Hell no!" Roxas blinked, eyes widening in shock. Larxene continued without pausing to acknowledge the reaction. Bending over so her spring-green eyes could bore into his summer blues, she spoke plainly, "When I say I look out for my friends, I mean I fucking look out for my friends. Girl, boy, cat, dog, witch, whatever! So long as you're strait with me, I'll have your back."

Roxas shook his head, as if the motion would send all of his confusion flying. Deciding it was probably best to make his thoughts audible at this point, he continued, "I'm so sorry for lying about being a guy and all, but," he stepped closer to her unintentionally, and she allowed her face to soften at the look of dread in his eyes. Waving his hand as if directed to both at infinity and himself, he continued, "This, all of this, is for my sister. If I get kicked out of here, not only will she brutally end me, but she'll lose her one shot at the chance of a lifetime. So, if you can forgive me," Roxas raised a hand slowly and slid the wig off his head, using his free palm to attempt to fix his boyishly messy, golden mop of hair before looking back up at Larxene and grinning stupidly, "My name is Roxas, and I'm a million times in your debt for not turning me in. I'm a boy, dressing up as my twin sister."

Larxene chuckled, which lead Roxas to scrunch his face in confusion. Had what he said been funny? The girl mussed his hair playfully as her eyes sparkled with laughter, "Man, you look stupid. Put that wig back on before someone sees you, ya damn Tranny!"

A light bulb went on over the boy's head when he realized that he was currently sporting fake breasts, and a skirt. His cheeks bloomed with color as he fitted the wig back into place, only remotely disappointed to be wearing fake hair again.

Larxene quirked an eyebrow as she spoke to him, the laughter faded from her voice, "I'm glad that we're both on the same page now, but that doesn't change the fact that the school, let alone my parents, would be most unhappy to find me rooming with a dude. To be honest, I think if a scandal rears its head at us, we're both looking at expulsion."

The smaller blonde couldn't think of anything to say that would help, so he simply nodded, his eyes reveling a curiously interesting pebble on the sidewalk.

Larxene pursed her lips before parting them to continue. "I told you that I like you, right? And I could see you're obviously scared enough to eat shit when it comes to getting caught. Hell, in your situation, I would be too." Roxas simply gave her a vacant look, as if silently pressing her to get to the point. In response the taller blonde leaned in, leering into the 'girl' before her with eyes like green fire, "I expect you to spend the rest of this period explaining to me exactly who you are and why you are here. In detail. After that, we'll go where this road may take us. Together. No more secrets. "

Roxas smiled weakly, a bit upset that he hadn't thought of the possibility of his roommate getting in trouble for his actions. Larxene gave him a condescending smirk, slinging an arm around his shoulder and guiding him away from the cafeteria. "Stupid, we're friends! I've already made that amply clear, so when are you going stop sulking and appreciate the awesomeness of this situation?"

Roxas laughed in response, content with letting Larxene guide him down the path that lead out the gates of the dorms. Walking in step, side by side, and without looking up, the boy spoke quietly, "Thank you. I don't know what I would do here without you."

Larxene snorted, letting her head fly back before abruptly composing herself; only a glimmer of the dark intentions lighting up her eyes remained. "Oh no, thank _you_ for the tremendously entertaining year you've just promised me."

The smaller blonde frowned, perplexed, but decided to shrug it off and accept it. He didn't need to understand her reasoning. Her acceptance was enough.

And thus, was the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

**XXX**

On their way to a small off-campus café, Roxas had asked Larxene, "What about fifth period?"

She'd simply raised a questioning eyebrow and replied, "What about it?"

He shrugged and felt safe making the assumption that after four years at their academy, his companion knew how to get around unexcused absences.

They had an hour to blow and she had wanted to go somewhere with coffee, or liquor. Since they were underage and her stash, as she had explained, was dry they hit up the first of the two.

"So, your name is actually Roxas, and you're here in place of your sister Namine," Larxene repeated, gingerly fingering the white cup of her capa-frappa-whateverthefuck-coffee drink.

Roxas grunted his confirming agreement as he cautiously sipped his hot chocolate. They were seated at a two-person table in one of the darker corners of the small establishment. As far as Roxas could tell, they were actually the only customers in the shop besides a business man on his laptop at the counter, and the girl who'd taken their orders and made their drinks.

When he looked up, Larxene was eying him curiously. It was like she was meeting Roxas all over again. The girl gave him a couple of once-overs as if she was committing it to memory, which the boy had to admit would have been extremely weird and creepy under different circumstances.

"My sister is an amazing artist," Roxas began slowly, startling Larxene out of her mental processing. Trying very hard not to roll his eyes at her, he continued, "Towards the end of school last year, she was offered a full ride to this top-notched art academy in Paris, based on some piece she'd entered in a contest that had something to do with a French poem. Knowing that an over-protective mother like ours would never in a million years let her go to a school by herself so far away, she sank into this ridiculous depression, throwing away any hope of attending altogether."

Roxas paused long enough to get an encouraging look from Larxene to go on before continuing, "When I asked her about why it was such a big deal, she told me that that becoming a successful artist is extremely difficult, and going to that school would have paved the road for her not just in college, but to a spectacular career doing what she loved. So, I told her she should break some rules to get what she wanted if the rules were holding her back that much." Larxene sipped her coffee silently. The boy across the table from her gestured to himself, "And that's how my appearance and attendance at your school came to be. Her idea, of course, but I couldn't really say no to my twin sister in a situation like that. It would've violated some brother-sister code or whatever."

Larxene was quiet for a moment. She didn't look at Roxas, but she wasn't really looking at anything. Roxas sipped nervously at the rest of his hot chocolate until he had sucked the cup dry. He got up to dispose of it, and then came back to find Larxene's eyes upon him again once again.

She smirked teasingly, "So basically, because you love your sister, of course, you let her conjur a plan to get you to cross dress and attend an all-girls academy… as your sister? Ah what people will do for family!" she giggled.

"Shhhh! Larxene!" Roxas motioned for her to shut up. Her chin-length platinum hair swayed as she turned to glance at the lady running the counter, who proceeded to look back down at her magazine as soon as she'd been caught eavesdropping.

Larxene glared and clicked her tongue rudely, "What? Can't a girl and her friend have a conversation about cross-dressing in private? Jesus!"

The lady's face turned red in embarrassment, but she ignored the reaction and simply turned the page of her magazine. The business man was talking on his Bluetooth moronically, and had heard or seen none of the exchanges. Roxas sort of felt bad for the Lady who'd made him such delicious hot chocolate. Larxene, seemingly unperturbed, stood to throw her cup away and gestured for Roxas to follow. "Come on, we'll talk on the way back to school."

Roxas followed Larxene out the door into the sun. Cicadas buzzed noisily from their shady resting places, creating a sort of ambiance. Now that she knew, Roxas was glad. He could be completely open with Larxene and wouldn't have to worry about her turning him in.

"Why are you grinning?" she asked suspiciously, drawing his attention back to his companion.

He glanced at her, before giggling happily and answering, "Just thinking that it's great that you are my roommate. I mean, it kind of helps that you found out of all people. It will make living together a lot easier."

Larxene smiled approvingly, "Glad I could help. Now I expect you won't be lying to me about anything else. We're friends. Friends can tell each other everything."

Roxas squinted, thinking, "Then what about everyone else? Do you think I should tell them?"

Larxene put her hand on Roxas' shoulder, stopping him. He looked up at her suddenly serious composure in mild alarm.

She must have been 5'11", but at that moment, it felt like she was 20 feet tall. Her eyes grew cold and distant, as if she was remembering something she didn't like as she replied crisply, "Listen Rox, you don't mind if I call you that right? Just because I'm cool with you being a dude doesn't mean everyone else would be." Roxas opened his mouth but Larxene put up a finger to silence him. "I don't mean our gang. They could probably cope with it, hell they may even try to date you, but can you honestly think, after meeting Kairi and Rikku, that they would be able to keep a secret this big?"

Roxas stared at her. She was right. They wouldn't do it on purpose, but they would let it slip eventually. He hung his head, tired at the thought of lying to his new friends for the rest of the year. This kind of sucked.

As they began walking again, Larxene gave him a hug from the side, squeezing his shoulders. The coldness melted away as she chirped, "Cheer up Roxas. You've got me, right? But I'm serious. Don't go telling everyone that becomes your best friend about this secret. Heads would fly if staff caught whiff of this."

Roxas nodded. Wait, did she say best fiends? He looked up at his slim friend as they continued to walk.

"Larxene, did you just imply that we're best friends?" She glanced down at him, not missing a beat, "Well, yeah. You don't seem like the type who's had a whole lot of friends, which puts me pretty damn near the top of the list, and you've already told me your deepest and darkest. Why not?"

Roxas wasn't whether or not to be offended by her seeing him as a type who hasn't had a lot of friends, even if it was pretty true. Instead of worrying about it, he said aloud, "Well, I guess so, but it's only been a day since we met."

Larxene pouted, "I like you, kid, is that so bad?"

Roxas smiled at her pout. It seemed every girl had their own version of it, from puppy dog eyes to seductive model face that looks like they used clothespins to keep their skin pinned so tightly. Larxene had a cute pout, he decided. If he was going to be a girl, he'd probably have to learn how to pout effectively. For now though a best friend was good enough.

_ 'Namine's going to have a riot over all this'_, he mused to himself.

Larxene nudged him, "Besides, who do you think is going to be you're inside girl for the rest of this year? I'm going to be doing you so many favors you'll be in debt to me for life before you know it! Yeah, we're really going to get to know each other this year. Starting with next period!"

Next period? What did he have next period again? Roxas reached into his bag and pulled out his now-crumpled and pathetic looking schedule. Does dilapidation ring a bell? He stopped walking mid-step. Larxene only noticed a few steps later before turning around and asking, "What's up?"

P.E., that's what was up. "Larxene, do we have to take group showers for P.E.?"

Larxene put her hands on her hips, "Well yeah, who doesn't? I mean..." her eyes grew wide, "Oh."

Yeah. Oh. Not to mention changing in the locker rooms.

"Larxene what class do you have next?" Roxas pushed, urgently.

The looked up suddenly, startled out of her thoughts, "Umm, I have PE too, but it's a different class. They divide us by grade, since its mandatory for everyone."

Good. At least He'd have Larxene with him. They could work something out.

"Well for changing, you can just use a bathroom stall. No one will notice. But the showers…" Larxene began walking again, prompting Roxas to run and catch up. He couldn't just not take a shower, could he? Not only would he smell, but would the teachers even let him?

"I've got it!" Larxene snapped her fingers and moved toward him so fast that Roxas, still walking, almost ran into her. She opened up her bag and pulled out a notebook and pen and began scribbling furiously onto the paper.

Circling around, he tried to look over her shoulder and peak, to no avail. After what seemed like hours she ripped out the paper from her notebook and handed it to him.

He looked at her dumbly; she beamed at him and encouraged him to read it. He sighed and looked at the piece of paper.

_Dear Ms. Kisaragi,_

_Due to a condition involving a chronic state _

_Of extended menstruation, I ask that you permit_

_Namine to use one of the private showers for_

_Reasons involving public hygiene and your student's_

_Medical confidentiality._

_Thank you,_

_School Nurse: Aerith Gainsborough_

Roxas blinked. Was this supposed to be a medical note? He had to shake his head a bit as he looked up at Larxene, who was now displaying a full force, shit-eating grin, to get the wig hairs out from his eyes. "Umm, do I even want to know what this condition is?" asked Roxas, tapping the paper with his hand. Larxene laughed. No, he definitely didn't want to know. But if it worked, did it really matter?

Once they'd commenced their walk once again, Roxas wondered aloud, "How did you know who my teacher was?"

Larxene answered simply, "Oh all the juniors and freshmen get Kisaragi. That's how they can get the entire student body into P.E. with only two teachers. Freshman and sophomores have it fourth period, juniors and seniors fifth. That way each teacher only gets one grade per class. Now thank my genius later, we need to run or we'll be late!"

"Wait, but who's your teacher?" he pushed.

Larxene grimaced. "I have Barret Wallace. Damn him. Sometimes I can still feel the aches from his torture two years ago! Someone should sue that man for child abuse! You are so lucky to have Yuffie." She hung her head for dramatic emphasis, which Roxas found silly and had no problem showing her with a giggle.

Once finished moping, Larxene grabbed his arm and was dragging him off towards the campus. Fourth period had just gotten out as they arrived back at the school; Kari managed to find them as they headed for the locker-room and pitched a fit about them ditching her without at least giving her a warning. She ended up having to sit by her lonesome with no one to talk to for a whole hour of math. The other two girls earnestly felt for her suffering.

Not long after, Rikku appeared from wherever it was Rikku had been, so the four went to face P.E. together. Its funny how heading towards physical activity made Roxas realize it was only about a thousand degrees out. Great, after surviving Larxene's discovery of his secret, he was going to die of heatstroke. At least he had a best friend to come to his funeral. Even if they had only met yesterday. Riiiight…

XXX

Upon stepping into the locker room, several things happened at once. Roxas may have been gay, but he was still male. The moment he stepped in, still chatting with his companions, a smell of perfume-drenched sweat hit him like a wall. He staggered a bit, drawing Rikku's attention.

"Namine, are you alright?" No, Rikku, he wasn't all right, but he could guess that this smell was about as normal for girl locker-rooms as sweaty socks and mold with an underlying hint of axe body spray was for guy locker-rooms. After assuring Rikku he was fine, and taking a moment to look around, he could see why there was so much 'citrus breeze' and 'pomegranate passion' in the air. Every other girl was standing around half naked, delaying getting dressed any further, in order to spray perfume or some sort of scent into the air, most likely to cover up the stench of fourth period. It wasn't working.

Roxas sat down on one of the benches, putting his head between his knees. The fumes were making him dizzy.

"Hey guys, lighten up on that fruity crap, will ya? We're not trying to hot box in here!" Roxas peeked up and caught Larxene winking at him. He would thank her later.

Two lines, several broken pad locks, three fungus filled lockers and a trip to the bathroom later, Roxas had acquired a semi-clean locker next to Larxene, Kairi, and Rikku, and had managed to take long enough changing that he didn't see more naked girls than he could help avoiding.

He walked outside to find the class chatting together at the top of the bleachers, which led down to the field. Almost everyone was wearing a sports bra and athletic shorts that looked too short for comfort. He was the only one wearing sweat pants and a t-shirt. Not a smart choice for ninety-four degrees out, but a sports bra would be inconvenient and there's no way those shorts were in his comfort zone.

"All right ladies, you know the drill. Seniors with me, juniors with Yuffie. Let's move! You're wasting class time!" Roxas saw the fearsomely muscled man in a too-small tee shirt and basketball shorts. He was fucking intimidating as ever. Roxas couldn't help but feel bad for Larxene, and relieved that he wasn't in her class.

"Hi everyone! I'll be you're PE teacher for the year, in case you don't already know that." Roxas looked to the bubbly girl standing next to Barret. He had to do a double take because he had mistaken her for a student. Not only did she look as young and energetic as anyone else present, but also she was the only one shorter than Roxas.

"Come on, guys! Our first day should be fun! Let's get going!" Roxas gave Larxene a sympathetic look. She sighed heavily and waved as her class headed down for the field.

When he turned back, he realized that his class was going down the stairs too. Roxas moved to catch up, but his teacher jumped in front of him, blocking his path.

"You're new here!" she gave him a warm smile. Yuffie seemed nice and all, but honestly the individual attention thing sort of bothered him.

Roxas scuffed his shoe on the ground nervously, "Erm, yeah. First year here."

"Well then," she put out her hand, "I'm Yuffie Kisaragi. You probably know this by now, but call me Yuffie."

After thoroughly splintering his wrist via handshake, Yuffie lead the way down to the field, skipping. She was like a fairy, aside from the beastly handshake. Always perky, and constantly energetic. Even when everyone, Roxas included, was dying of heat exhaustion just from walking down the long row of stairs, Yuffie hadn't even broken a sweat. Go figure.

Larxene, whose class had begun running laps around the track, looked like she wanted to murder something. Roxas would have waved at her, but she'd probably just plow him over to make him miserable, so he opted to sit by Kairi and Rikku who were attempting to fan themselves in the bleachers.

PE with Mr. Wallace was brutal, or Roxas imagined it was. Larxene's class had spent the entire class running laps without stopping while Roxas' class played kickball on the field the track bordered. Yuffie, much to Barret's disapproval, even turned on the sprinklers on the field towards the end of the period.

Roxas was beginning to think that he would enjoy P.E.. Going to shower proved him wrong.

"Where's my bra?"

"I think that's my thong, here's yours."

"God it smells. Someone spray something!"

"No spraying or we'll all die of chemical poisoning!"

"Ahh! I turned the water on too hot…"

"Here Namine," Roxas jumped amidst the commotion of partially dressed and nude girls bee-lining from the showers to the lockers and vise versa. Larxene shoved a towel in his face, "You have to use the private showers, right? I'll show you the way." Roxas blindly walked as Larxene steered. He didn't even mind the towel in his face. Larxene guided him into a small rectangular stall before she let the towel drop. He turned to look at her, but she slammed the door in his face, and the latch fell shut.

"Roxas," she whispered through the crack. He pressed his ear up to hear her, "gay or not, it's inappropriate for you to look at all these girls naked without them knowing any better. Stay in here after you shower until I come get you." Having turned the note in at the beginning of class, Roxas didn't have to think about whether he could use the shower or not. Once he had asked, he didn't think that Yuffie had even glanced at the note before telling him he could use it. How nice. On the other hand, how had Larxene known he was gay? Was it obvious? He would have to ask her later.

Roxas took off his school uniform, down to his underwear and the padded bra Namine had made him. He stripped those off last, laying them on his neatly folded pile in the corner so as they wouldn't get wet. He had tried not to look at too many people, but naked was naked. It's hard not to look at no matter what you're preference is.

Shaking his head, and trying to get the image of topless Kairi out of his mind, Roxas turned the water on as hot as he could without burning himself. He walked under the water until he could press his forehead against the cool tile on the wall, and closed his eyes. His first remotely relaxing moment all day, and it was well worth all the trouble.

Regretfully, he didn't have enough time to stand in the shower relaxing. Roxas grudgingly grabbed his soap and began washing down when he heard someone yelling.

"Namine! Why are you showering in the private stall? We're all girls, right?" Oh shit. Roxas turned in time to hear Rikku bang against the stall door, causing the latch to fall out of its catch. Shit!

"Rikku!" Larxene yelled, but it was too late. Roxas dove under the wall to the next stall over and stood up in time so that Rikku hadn't seen him. He heard Larxene cuss her out and shut the door again, letting the latch fall back in place. Roxas sighed, that had been too close. Maybe he could buy a better lock for that stall.

Too busy being relieved for not being caught; he hadn't noticed the hand until it was over his mouth and holding him back against the stall. His eyes widened with panic as the definitely naked Paine stood over him, glaring like he had never seen her do before.

"Who the hell are you?" whispered Paine, low enough so that no one would overhear but not enough to hide her anger. Roxas started to shake. It wasn't just her appearance that made her intimidating, but she was terrifying when mad. Even if they were both naked; clothes could wait.

Roxas tried to say something, and Paine moved her hand away from his mouth. Roxas gasped for a breath he hadn't known he'd been holding. Paine simply stood there, seemingly comfortable with her nudity.

When he could breathe comfortably again, he looked back to Paine. "I'm so sorry. I didn't know anyone was in here and then Rikku came and…" the look on her face stopped him. She didn't care about that stuff.

He sighed. It was still his first day, right? Somehow it felt like it had been more than that. Already he was on his second potential incident to get him thrown out of this school.

"My name is Roxas. I'm covering for my sister while she studies art in France. Larxene already knows, but she just found out today. Right after lunch, actually," he sighed again, staring at his feet, "I would understand if you turn me in, but I really want to stay here. Not just for my sister, though only lasting one day does sound pathetic, but also for my new friends." He looked up hopefully at Paine, who had crossed her arms over her chest.

Noticing this, Roxas blushed and turned, embarrassed by the fact that they were both naked in the shower.

"Okay."

Roxas looked up. That one word had been the best thing he'd heard out of Paine's mouth since he arrived. He gave her his widest, most thankful smile possible and threw himself into hugging her. He couldn't help it.

"Um, Namine? Or Roxas?" He looked up. Paine wasn't meeting his eyes and her face was red. Oh right. They weren't wearing clothes.

He flung himself off of her and back into the corner so fast he almost slipped on a bar of soap. "I'm so sorry, really!" he looked around, planning his escape, and decided to go back under the wall.

"I'll go now," said Roxas nervously, sending himself back to his stall. He made one last habitual glance before he passed under the divider, and almost gasped. She had turned to face away from him, and he had a clear view of her back. From her lower neck down to just above her butt were scars. He lay on the floor in his stall for a few seconds, taking it in. He had recognized a couple of the biggest as burn scars, but the others had been jagged, more violent but probably less painful. Now he knew why she took private showers.

After finishing his shower, getting dressed, and righting his wig, Roxas stood under the now waterless shower and waited until Larxene finally knocked. He opened the door to see that everyone, including Paine, had left except for them. So she didn't want him seeing more naked girls? Ha, that plan had failed. But she could hear about that after school.

"Ready, darling?" Larxene teased, offering her arm to him. He grinned back, taking the offer "Yeah."

Music class had been mostly uneventful. Where Yuffie had simply looked young for whatever her age must have been, his teacher, Demyx, couldn't possibly have been much older than he was, but he didn't push on the subject. The guy was fun, so Roxas didn't mind letting it lie and without griping. Strangely enough, he played the sitar. Roxas hadn't known there were sitars in school bands, but they didn't really have a school band anyway. It was more like a "come and play an instrument for an hour. Or not. We don't care" class than anything else. This, Roxas could live with.

That night he told Larxene about his run in with Paine, and she agreed that if anyone wouldn't talk besides her, it would be Paine. His luck to run into the right people had saved him again. After asking, Larxene reminded Roxas about their first night. "You'd make a terrible liar," she said, " and you got really nervous when I'd asked how you swing, so I made an assumption that you meant it when you said you liked guys."

Namine hadn't been too happy to hear about someone finding out on the first day, let alone two people, but after a brief conversation with Larxene she changed her mind and described the situation as, "for the best!"

Roxas, exhausted from his first day, fell asleep before dinner. Larxene had tried waking him up, to no avail, and had eventually settled for leaving him some rolls on his desk. He could eat them if he woke up and was hungry.

Overall, his first day had been a success. Two people knew he was a boy, but he had gained a best friend and managed to not get thrown out anyway. If he could survive all that had happened in the past 24 hours or so, he would without a doubt be able to finish the year. Maybe.

**I think this is the longest chapter I've written. Ever. In that sense, I'm soooooo proud of myself XD. 14 pages on MS Word and over 5000 words! Whooooo! *WRITERGASM***

**Thanks for reading! R&R plz 3**


	5. There's Something About Axel

**WHOOO! So for the first time in my long years of life (only, like, 17 but still) we got snow before Thanksgiving! HEEEELLLL YEEEAAAHHH! In honor of that, and the AMAZING reviews I've been getting, here is the next chaptah! I think the writing is a bit choppy, but its sort of an in-between chapter anyways so oh well. And, for those of you who've been asking, AXEL FINALLY HAS HIS CAMEO! lulz. Doesn't do much, but w/e. Next chapter will be fun *evil smirk*. Riight... so go read! Nao!**

**HUGE THANKS to Rocket-Ship-Romance and Mum 3 for the MOST EPIC REVIEWS EVER. Boosted my writing esteem and made me lol (Personally, I think the real point behind fanfiction is to give and recieve lulzy reviews, and for that I am eternally satisfied thanks to you two ;D) AND EVERYONE ELSE WHO REVIEWED IS AMAZING. Haha, this fic is like my baby, so to know other people are getting as excited reading it as I get writing it is very very awesome.**

**P.S. Unrequited gay love is unrequited and gay *sigh* R&R to get rid of the aaaaaaaaaaaangst! haha.**

***Thanks for the heads up on the Italicizing to those of you who kindly told me of it in your reviews XD**

Appreciation was not a word to describe Roxas' feelings toward alarm clocks. To an extent, he suspected that the small digital abominations that insisted on ruining his sleep weren't supposed to be loved and adored by anyone, but he hated them still.

His clock, a black little piece of you know what with an exceptionally irritating blare, was set to go off at 6:00, just as every morning. Well, having just mentioned his hate for the clock, it was no surprise that Roxas felt compelled to express his feelings by picking up his alarm and throwing it across the room and into the opposite wall; silencing it forever.

Unfortunately, this means that he was rudely awakened to cold water on his face, thanks to Larxene, and yet another round of sprinting to school in a skirt, for the fourth time since his first day of school a week prior. His gender having been revealed to his roommate, he could enjoy the comforts of sleeping a pair of his old shorts, or without a shirt on exceptionally warm nights, and most definitely without a wig, meaning that the water-wake up didn't cause any extra time he would have otherwise spent trying to dry his faux hair.

Despite the haste of the morning, the blonde boy was beginning to enjoy his sprints to school in the heat of the morning. On this particular morning, Roxas found himself contemplating how wrong it still felt to run in a knee-length skirt. Pleats don't make it easier to move your legs, no matter what they tell you on the package.

In his first week of school, he'd formed solid, but ever-growing friendships with Larxene, Kairi and Rikku. Even Paine had come around to helping him with his homework in whatever class every once in awhile. Kairi's little sister Selphie turned out to be a bit dumb, but fun to talk to nonetheless, and Yuna was someone bright and intelligent to make what otherwise would've been a dull music class interesting and fun.

As he listened to the cadence of his feet coming down on the sidewalk, felt the wind on his face, and bag flying behind him, a dingy red tank of a car (you know, the kind that were built back when steel-enforced bumpers were a must, and square was the shape of awesome) drove past him on the one-way-street leading into Hollow Bastion. Roxas could see rusty spots on its old paint job, a tell-tale sign of its wear and possible neglect. As it passed him, window rolled down, he made brief eye contact with a strange redhead, who winked. The guy couldn't have been much older than Roxas, which had him looking twice, in spite of all the reasons not to.

He had flaming hair molded back into spikes that must have taken hours to shape, and below his rich, emerald eyes were tattoos of upside-down teardrops. This interaction, though Roxas found it compelling, was brief. Once they had passed one another, The blonde would-be girl watched it speed off as quickly as it had come into the city. The interaction should have been insignificant, like when construction workers say rude things as you walk by them, but it wasn't.

The exhausted boy managed to collapse into his desk as the bell rang. It was an improvement from some previous close calls, but not by much. As Cid struggled through the lesson, Roxas daydreamed. Pictures of the mysterious redhead he had seen on his way to school danced around in his head. Why the hell was his hair so big?

Having skipped breakfast that morning, Roxas was more than grateful when the bell rang to dismiss him to lunch. Following their new ritual, the smaller blonde allowed himself to be dragged along by Rikku and even contributed to their aimless babble about the class they'd both been to, right up until Roxas turned to walk out the gates of the school and toward the dorm buildings.

"Hold up Namine, where do you think you're going?" Rikku had given a strong tug, causing Roxas to stagger, before steering him away.

"Umm, the cafeteria? To get food?" Roxas struggled to squeak as Rikku pulled him hastily in the opposite direction. "_The same direction in which that redhead had gone in the morning"_, he recalled thoughtfully.

Rikku hyper-blasted him with a million watt smile as she replied perkily, "Nope. Larxene texted me and we're eating out today. You like pizza, right?"

Roxas leered at the taller girl suspiciously, "Sure…"

She released him as they kept walking to clap her hands excitedly, "Great! This is the best place in town; we go there all the time. Normally we only go on weekends or for dinner, but Larxene said she wanted to welcome you properly or something," some of Rikku's braids swung in front of her face as she turned towards him, "If that was supposed to be a surprise, I'm not the one who told you, got it?" she eyed him carefully to ensure the point got across.

Roxas rolled his eyes, "Sure, Rikku."

They continued to babble about everything and nothing as they approached town. The high-speed girl talk had become something of a comfort to the boy. If all else failed, he knew he could just nod at appropriate times and let her take the lead, and his lack of participation would go perfectly unnoticed.

"… And normally I would only get a salad because, you know, I don't want to get fat or anything, but he was just so persistent in ordering for me, and then forcing food onto my plate, and I didn't want to seem picky or rude, that I ended up eating half a pizza! I guess it was mostly my fault, but I swear the guys in this town are all pigs!"

Guys. The only guy that Roxas could actually picture in his head since he had gotten in there was that nameless redhead. Aside from teachers, which he would never be in to regardless of Kairi's ridiculous suggestions. He wished he knew the boy's name at least… But how did it come bother him so much? He wasn't the type of person to take interest in random people he'd never even met properly.

"Namine, are you listening?" asked Rikku skeptically.

Roxas rolled his eyes up towards her, "Hmm? Oh yeah, don't leave with guys you meet at a pizza joint because they are all pigs. Got it."

Rikku sighed, pushing open the door that Roxas had just noticed in front of them. It was called "Pizza Ray's". Cute, but greasy. Yumm.

Rikku grabbed his hand and squeezed, "Sometimes I wonder what's going on inside that big brain of yours."

"Tell me about it!" Roxas' head swiveled and turned to identify Larxene as the source of the comment. She was sitting commandingly at the head of a nearby table along with the rest of the usual gang. Bad pop music and commotion from other customers filled his ears as he waded through the crowd and towards the table.

As he drew nearer, Roxas noticed something missing. Larxene, Paine, Yuna…Oh right. Where the hell was Kairi?

"Where's Kairi?" he verbalized his question, and had Larxene jerking a thumb over her shoulder so fast it was like she'd been waiting for him to ask. The motion drew his attention to a mess of hands and red hair in the corner. She had already snagged herself a guy and was having her way with him.

Roxas looked curiously at Paine, who was seated stoically next to Larxene.

"Doesn't that bother you?" he asked, gesturing the scene of teenage lust-filled snog. The explanation from his first day aside, wasn't her blatantly making out in front of her supposed girlfriend a bit much?

Pain looked up at him calmly, "No. I have better ways to waste my time than try to convince Kairi to be monogamous with me."

Larxene and Rikku gave the sleight-haired girl a look that clearly said they weren't buying the 'I don't care' act, even if nothing they could see indicated other feelings on the matter. Roxas sat down between Larxene and Yuna.

"So, anything interesting happen today?" asked Larxene, comfortably changing the subject.

Roxas glanced at her thoughtfully. The day had been pretty uneventful after that morning. A question formed in his head, but Rikku beat him to speak before he could open his mouth.

"There's something on her mind," she declared, drawing a glare from Roxas, "I don't know what, but she's being all thoughtful and quiet. I haven't known Namine all too long, but if it were anyone else I'd say she met a boy."

Larxene choked on her water. "W-what? Ro- er- Namine! Is she right? Who is he, what is his name?"

Roxas stared open-mouth at Rikku. How the hell had she found that out? He hadn't mentioned the morning to anyone; let alone Rikku. Maybe girls had ESP when it came to guys or something? It would sure as hell explain the obsession.

"I didn't meet anyone," he rolled out of his mouth in response, drawing disappointed looks from everyone except Paine, who hadn't shown any interest in this conversation from the beginning. "But I did see someone," eyes perked up in interest and Roxas began to play with his napkin to make it seem less important, like more of an offhand thought, "I don't know his name, but I've been wondering if there was a public school around here somewhere? Somewhere boys go to school?"

"Well duh," Roxas jumped. He had almost forgotten Yuna was next to him. The brunette rolled her eyes and flipped her short hair habitually, "Where do you think Kairi got that poor soul she's straddling in the corner?" Good point.

Looking around at the other girls, he grumbled to himself when he noticed that he was the shortest person at the table. Genetics were rigged. He was living proof.

"So what does he look like?" asked Rikku, still panning for gossip.

Roxas shrugged, "He just passed me in a car, so I didn't see him for very long. But he was so odd looking I couldn't get him out of my head. He had extraordinarily green eyes, red hair that I doubt is a natural color and was all spiky and huge," Roxas used his hands to try and demonstrate the largeness of the boy's hair, "and he had two tattoos under his eyes."

Everyone's eyes widened a bit in surprise, including Paine.

"Larxene, isn't that your friend Axel?" asked Rikku, bewildered.

Roxas blinked, "Wait, you all know him?"

"Yeah, basically," replied Larxene. Roxas' phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it open to find a text from Larxene.

We went to junior high together. I don't see him much anymore, but I do know he's strait as you are gay. Don't get your hopes up; he likes cute girls so you'll probably see more of him. We'll talk later.

~Lar

P.S. The hair is natural

Roxas sighed in relief. They could talk later. He didn't have to try and convince Larxene that he wasn't interested in this Axel… for now. He could explain later that it was merely curiosity about his odd appearance, and she would believe him, right?

"What's all the commotion around here?" Kairi, apparently finished with her boy toy, now stood behind Roxas, hands on the back of his chair. He flinched.

"Namine bumped into Axel. Well, she really just saw him, but she probably has a crush on him," Larxene replied. Roxas audibly groaned. This was getting annoying.

"Oh really?" Kairi's voice had gotten high pitched and strained. Roxas saw her face darken as she clenched her teeth. "I hope you castrate that fucker. I, as his sister, give you my full endorsement to do so."

Roxas furrowed his brow. What the hell was that? Once Kairi had stormed out of the restaurant, Yuna piped up, "Don't worry about her. She's jealous of her brother because he lives life carefree and her parents don't mind whatsoever, but if she did any of the things that are considered healthy behavior for Axel, she'd be nearly disowned."

"Oh," he mumbled. Roxas found that mildly amusing, but mostly just sad. The look on his face made Larxene laugh full and throaty, unlike Roxas' light and bubbly one.

Eventually they got pizza, and it wasn't long before it was gone. Larxene was the first to stand up, stretching.

Turning her thin, angular face towards the smaller blond adjacent to her, Larxene spoke first after the check had been paid, "Come on, let's get back to class everyone. Namine, guess what?"

Roxas stuffed his sixth slice, and the last of the remaining pizza, into his mouth, barely managing to mutter, "Hmm? What?" Rikku quietly cursed him for being able to eat so much and stay thin as a rail.

Larxene gave him a plastic smile as she cheered, "It's time to go to math!"

Roxas groaned. He was a lost soul when it came to math. His initial hope had been that Larxene's previously failed year would give them all a leg up, but he'd been very, very wrong.

After being dragged once again back to the school, Roxas' arms were beginning to get sore. Despite getting used to the action, he still didn't get it. Maybe it was their way of taking advantage of having a friend that was so lightweight? The small blonde was still somewhat bitter about the size difference, Kairi being the only one nearly as short as him at her 5'5". God was cruel when he handed out bodies.

XXX

Vincent Valentine was an oddly quiet man who nurtured a strange obsession with cell phones. He didn't have one himself, from what Roxas could tell, but if he caught you with yours out during class he would confiscate it and analyze it the entire period. Unlike all his past math teachers, confiscated phones sat on his desk to be played with, not in a drawer full of broken calculators.

When he had walked into class, Vincent already had two phones, and was contently picking away at them. Their assignment for class-work and homework was on the whiteboard already. Apparently no teaching would be happening today!

Roxas smirked. If the homework was already on the board, they could just finish it all in class, right? He looked at Larxene to tell her his idea, but stopped when he noticed her solemn expression.

"Roxas, turn around," she said grimly, apparently having noticed his grin. Roxas looked over his shoulder and froze. No, they would not be finishing their homework that period. Not out of choice, but because unlike their teacher, none of the people in the class were robots. Behind where they were standing, on the back wall of the room, was another whiteboard. It was completely covered from top to bottom in the rest of their homework due by Friday. Jesus H. Christ.

Larxene had given up on working almost immediately and struck up a conversation with Kairi, who had gotten over her earlier tantrum about Axel. The petite redhead hadn't even tried to do the work. Meanwhile, Roxas could almost feel smoke rising from his pencil as he wrote furiously, doing the math as quickly as he possibly could and not checking back for errors.

By the end of the period, Roxas was smiling lazily. His hand was cramping and he had lead all over his fingers, but he was almost a third of the way done with his homework. FOR THE WEEK. Larxene and Kairi stared at him wordlessly as he wobbled out of the room, content to be mentally exhausted if it meant he didn't have to do math once he left that room. Not that any of his work was right. Right answers weren't really necessary until the test anyway.

"Damn, Namine. I mean, your second week in math and already you're brain-dead." Roxas didn't reply. He was too busy re-arranging geometric functions and determining log formulas in his head. Their first week had been surprisingly easy, with Vincent having decided to teach by lecturing one week, and working them to the bone the following week, with a test every other Friday. Larxene chuckled, "You know what they say Nam, everything in moderation." Roxas nodded, walking into the locker room wordlessly and moving on to the bathroom stalls so he could change.

XXX

That night Roxas came back from dinner to find Larxene reading yet another book in French. He'd learned over the weekend that she was fluent in French, having taken classes in the language since she was in seventh grade. Some day she desired to be a French pastry chef. Roxas questioned how it was possible for her to be a French chef if she wasn't from France, but she'd merely shrugged and told him she'd worry about that when someone called her out on not being French which, after her many trips to France and never once having someone do so thanks to a flawless accent, wouldn't happen.

He slid off his wig and hung it on the bedpost, thoughtlessly mumbling that he was going to take a shower. 10 minutes, squeaky clean and dressed a pair of old shorts later, Roxas emerged from the bathroom with his towel draped behind his neck, using the ends to attempt to dry some of his hair. Larxene looked up, moved from her usual reading spot on her bed to the chair in front of her desk, cell phone pressed to one ear. Roxas raised a questioning eyebrow, Larxene raised both of hers in mild surprise, "Namine, you're brother has an awesome body. Tell me, why is he single?"

Roxas sputtered as he fought for words. "What the hell are you doing on the phone with my sister!"

Larxene shrugged, "She called last week when Kairi dragged you out shopping and we exchanged numbers."

The boy stood motionlessly bewildered, "But WHY?"

Larxene smiled innocently, "To check up on you, to talk with someone who's as France obsessed as she is, and for some good 'ole shameless girl talk with someone in another country."

Roxas frowned, before walking towards her and snatching her phone up, "Nami, what the fuck?"

"Hi Roxas! Larxene's great. By the way, has mom tried calling yet? Oh, of course she hasn't. Anyway school's great here. Larxene told me you're doing alright too. You should stick with her, she'll be good for you. Anyways, I'm dating this guy named Reno who's three years older than me and has a happy trail that…"

Roxas barely had time to take a breath before hissing, "Oh god, Shut up! I get it!"

Reluctantly, he gave the phone back to Larxene, who accepted it gleefully.

Roxas took this as an opportunity to plug into his ipod and drown out the girl-talk that went back and forth between French, boys, and Roxas. He didn't need to know he had a nice body in Larxene's agenda, but he couldn't help but smirk when she turned back to her phone conversation, why people do that he couldn't tell you.

Within a few minutes, he was asleep.

XXX

Larxene had been right about P.E. with Yuffie. Roxas had to admit that he loved the class. Today, celebrating the record temperature high for the month of September in Hollow Bastion since the 19th century, at 98 degrees, Yuffie had decided to play dodge ball with water balloons. Larxene's class had to run six laps around the track, but when they were finished Barret let them join the game. The field's centerline was the divider for the two teams and the teachers sat on the sideline, filling up extra water balloons to keep feeding into the game.

Roxas picked up one particularly large balloon from the field. He tested its weight with one hand before chucking it at some poor soul who was miserably drenched already and complained about how messed up her hair was going to be. Roxas laughed when she turned to walk off the field and sit on the bench with the others who were 'out'.

He had still been watching the girl when another balloon collided with his face and exploded in a wash of cool water. Startled, he looked up to see Larxene laughing at him.

"Larxene! We're on the same team!" Roxas whined, but Larxene simply answered by throwing another balloon, which Roxas dodged gracefully this time. It wasn't difficult when he saw them coming. He laughed sarcastically, arming himself with a few more balloons before charging at Larxene and initiating an all-out water balloon brawl between the two of them.

A few minutes later the two of them were sitting on the field, laughing at themselves, and completely drenched. Roxas had been careful to avoid any more headshots, so his wig was still intact and looking naturally damp, if a bit messy. The rest of him? Not so much. He had been wearing a gray t-shirt and the same sweats from the previous day, this time rolled up to his knees. All of which were soaked. Larxene was wearing a white shirt and red jogging shorts. Her shirt was completely soaked and, you guessed it, see-through. Roxas hadn't paid attention enough to really notice though, and neither had Larxene because most of the girls weren't wearing shirts anyway.

Roxas sighed and stretched out to lie down on the field, soaking in the sun. Larxene did the same next to him.

"This is nice," He said peacefully. Larxene smirked, "Yeah, it is." They remained there unmoving for several long seconds before their much appreciated break was interrupted.

"Whoo! Damn, Lar, since when are you so hot? Or maybe it's just your choice of athletic wear?"

Roxas jumped. Larxene frowned. The latter sat up and turned to see three boys leaning against the rail at the bottom of the bleachers that filled the slope from the school to the field. She groaned. Roxas was looking from the boys, who he couldn't see well because the sun was in his eyes, to Larxene, who was mumbling curses under her breath.

Most of the girls, and the teachers, hadn't noticed them yet in the commotion. "You are such a letch, you know that?" replied Larxene snidely. Roxas was confused. Who were these people?

Due to Larxene's response, gradually more attention was drawn to the newcomers. The teachers were still obliviously filling water balloons on the other side of the field and noticed nothing.

One of the three figures began to walk down the stairs. Roxas gaped. Why was he here? "One of the best, but is that any way to greet an old friend?" Axel asked, displaying a toothy grin. Of the many things Roxas was thinking at that moment, the most prominent was, oh my god, his hair must make him bake in this weather!

Larxene glanced at Roxas, probably wondering what he was thinking, but placed her attention back on Axel ever promptly. She sighed and, reluctantly, stood up. By this time most all of the girls had gone from playing to fidgeting; suddenly awkward in their skimpy clothes now that the male variety had joined them. Except, of course, for Kairi, Paine and Rikku who seemed content to let it all hang out, paying an unusually small amount of attention to them for boys. Well, not really unusual for Paine, and explainable considering the familiar ties to Kairi, but even Rikku was happily ignoring them, which Roxas found strange.

The drenched boy sat dumbly on his butt and waited for something to happen. The other two boys had begun to scramble down the stairs in order to catch up with Axel. "Sora, wait up!" chastised the taller one. He had silver hair and muscles that seemed sculpted by gods, Roxas noticed. Clothes wouldn't hide them, but the sleeveless shirt he wore made them obvious. The other, apparently his name was Sora was very attractive, if not Roxas' type, but rather than muscled, he was thin and very boyishly cute. AAAND for once Roxas wasn't the only guy shorter than Larxene. He felt himself smile at that.

"Axel, come on! We aren't supposed to attract attention or else Demyx will get in trouble!" Sora was tugging on Axel's arm as if it would eventually make him move.

Larxene had moved up to a comfortably close talking distance from Axel. "Why are you goofs here? Hey Riku, Sora, long time no see." Sora grinned and waved, Riku mumbled an awkward hello.

"What, I can't come to see my best girl for a visit?"

Larxene frowned. "Axel, we're seniors. I haven't seen you since sophomore year when you tried to get me drunk and sleep with me at a party. Why the hell are you gracing us with your presence now, since I know it's not for old times sake?"

Axel's eyes narrowed, letting off a mischievous twinkle, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

Larxene groaned again. "Hurry up and get out of here before we all get in trouble. I don't want to run more laps today."

Axel cocked his head curiously. "Come on, Lar, that's no fun! Where's the you I used to know and love?"

Larxene gave her blank-face smirk and placed her hands on her hips, "Who said she's gone anywhere?"

Axel raised an eyebrow, "So you've found some new scandal to get your hands dirty in?"

Larxene laughed, Roxas twitched. This was getting slightly weird to listen to, especially from a sitting position.

Axel stepped forward and picked up Larxene in a hug, making her squeak. "I miss you, let's go get pizza sometime. Seriously. But…" Axel set her down and looked to Roxas, "for today, there's someone else I want to talk to."

Larxene froze. Roxas looked at her, asking questions with his eyes, but she simply stood and watched, studying the scene from a distance.

"Umm, are you referring to me?" asked Roxas, not sure what to say. Axel grinned and put his hands on his hips. He looked kind of like Larxene doing that, only rather than looking girly, he just looked sexy and hinted at what wonders his clothes could be hiding.

"Time to hit the showers, ladies! Don't want to be late to 7th period, do you?" bellowed Barret. There was a collective groan rising from the classes, no doubt wishing they could play with water balloons all day.

Axel cursed and Riku grabbed his shoulder, "Come on Axel, let's go before we cause any trouble."

"Yeah I know," he replied, but instead of turning to leave with Riku and Sora, he stepped closer to Roxas, looking down at him with a strange look in his eye. "I'll see you next period, so don't think this conversation is over yet." He winked and Roxas blushed. What the hell was he saying? He didn't go to this school, how could they see each other next period? Roxas watched the three boys climb the stairs. More specifically he watched Axel. It wasn't sexual, so don't get any ideas, but Roxas was curious about the way he walked. Were those hips he spied?

Larxene offered him a hand. He took it wordlessly. "Roxas, be careful." He looked up. Larxene was staring at him analytically, apparently trying to read into his reaction from this encounter.

"Be careful of what?" he asked distractedly. Girls had begun heading up the stairs and back to the showers, chatting about the cute boys who stopped by for a visit.

"Axel likes you, I can tell. Just be careful for me, will you?" she asked. The question was rhetorical so Roxas said nothing. There was some underlying emotion in it that Roxas couldn't quite understand, but he dropped it. What was Larxene so worried about with him and Axel? He might be gay, but just because some hotshot redhead takes an interest in him didn't mean he liked him back. Why couldn't girls understand that being curious about a stranger and having the hots for them are two completely different things?

As for Axel's apparent interest in him, he would just have to go to his next class and find out. What was it again? Oh yeah, music. Wait, music? What the hell could Axel have planned for music class?

_**R&R for hot cocoa and Santa's beard!**  
_


	6. The Girl He's going to Marry

**OH JESUS! 3 My sweets, your wait is up! Yay updates! *happy dance* I had to take a few months to get into college apps, get my grades up, etc... but now that holidays are over and all that crud is sorted, I bring you new chapters *u*! R&R for leftover stocking stuffers!**

Axel strode up the stairs between the bleachers with a heavy swing in his step, putting forth his best effort to make his hips sway. That's right; he had hips, and he damn well knew how to use them. One fish two fish, left hip right hip… well, you know. Upon reaching the summit of his climb, Axel took a brief peak over his shoulder to make sure he wasn't being watched, and then took off running to catch up with Sora and Riku, who'd left him and his hips in the dust with zero remorse.

"Hey guys, slow down!" Axel wheezed, drawing a reaction from neither of his intended targets. Pausing to catch his breath, he hollered "Even if a teacher does see us, its not like they'd know we're here for Demyx!"

If you asked Axel, he'd tell you that walking fast is pointless. You always ended in the same place, with maybe seconds to spare _on a good day. _What was he supposed to do with a few extra seconds that could beat sparing his lungs and legs from unnecessary distress?

In spite of his views, the boy practiced the cursed art of speed-walking until he was on par with his companions. This put Riku between Axel and Sora, and he took advantage of his view by glancing sideways at his flushed friend. "Visiting him on his second day of work is bad enough. We don't need to go around causing other people trouble too to make it worse." Axel grinned childishly and tried to mumble a stupid excuse, but Riku simply scoffed and continued relentlessly, his voice straining as its pitch gradually drew itself into higher octives, "And what the hell did you say to that girl from earlier? Larxene I understand, but have you even met the other one?"

The redhead's lips twisted irresistibly. Pointing a finger and chanting a classic 'I know something you don't know!' was what he really wanted to do; but he restrained himself. Sort of.

"_Oh, her,"_ he imagined himself beginning, mock indifference seeping from every word, _"She was a palpably innocent soul who had virgin written all over her. I could practically smell the delicious, delicious gullibility oozing from her pores. I plan to corrupt her Riku. Don't even try to stop me!"_

Aloud, he replied nonchalantly, "I guess you could say we've met." _So much for my ballsy and reckless image_. If ever there was a time to hold his tongue, it was when Riku would be listening. Less was more with that guy. It gave him less ammunition to screw up your ass and six ways to hell.

Sora peered curiously past Riku towards Axel as he asked "Really? When did you meet? What's her name?"

Axel laughed, "I have no fucking idea. I drove by her on the way to school today. She was running late."

Riku frowned. Sora frowned. Sora verbalized what they were both thinking, "Then you don't know her, Ax. If you'd met you would at least know her name."

A groan emitted itself from Riku, as if he'd predicted Axel's coming retort and had simply chosen to skip forward to the part where he got to be annoyed. Pinching the bridge of his nose he moaned, "Oh come on, Axel, not another one! School just started and you can't even wait a week into senior year to get laid, can you?"

Axel sighed and rested a hand on his silver-haired bud's shoulder. Using his other arm to gesture wildly, he abruptly fell onto the other boy, trusting to be caught, as he cried, "Oh, how I do love to spoil innocence! It's the best of fun," he looked at Riku with eyes that sparkled with mischief, "and this one practically radiates 'never been kissed'." Before Riku could whap him on the head, the slightly taller boy was spinning away and cheering, "It's the best way to challenge a real man! An ebullient way to kick off my ruling year of high school!"

As the trio rounded a corner, Sora inched closer to Riku and whispered, "What does ebullient mean?"

Riku grimaced, still watching Axel dance like a fruit, "I'm not even sure he knows what it means."

Sora silently Oh'd with his lips. Before the thought could sink in enough to confuse him, he grinned and chirped happily, "Well, if you ask me, she looked pretty nice. And being friends with Larxene must mean she's interesting. You should try dating her; as a change of pace, you know?"

Axel stopped whirling through the courtyard they were crossing and looked at Sora blankly. Slowly, he wrinkled his nose as if words could smell funny. "Why the hell would I do that?" he asked, rhetorically.

There was a brief moment of awkward hesitation before Riku piped up, "What about Larxene?"

Axel shifted his gaze to the dandelion that had managed to pry its way free from the cracked cement beneath him. Riku continued, "We haven't seen her in a long time, man. I think you should use this opportunity to be friends again, like it used to be. I know Sora misses her."

Sora pointed at the older boy, as if accusing him of killing the maid with the candlestick in the dining room, and yelled "Riku, you do too!"

Riku gave an affirmative nod, "Yeah. I do." The two boys looked to Axel.

The redhead kicked a pebble and mumbled quietly, "Me too…". he didn't say anything else for a long time. The last time he'd talked to Larxene had talked was right after she'd dumped him. They'd been best friends for so long, but a few months of dating and one non-mutual breakup had seemed to throw all of that out the window. It was probably his fault, he having been the one who'd gone out of his way to sabotage her future dates and whatnot; that is, until she told him to get the fuck out of her life, and mind his own damn business, shortly followed by her transfer to the academy. Until today, he'd done exactly as she asked. Well, except for that party sophomore year. That was a night he'd REALLY been trying to forget.

But it was behind them now, right? He didn't have any romantic feelings for her, not anymore, and she'd apparently forgiven him. Probably.

Riku and Sora simply watched him. They'd been there to watch it happen. They'd watched Axel get emotionally attached for the first, and so far only, time in his life, and then blow it to pieces with his own to hands. He'd been petty and needy and controlling, and eventually it all drove her away. They didn't really have much sympathy for him. Not anymore. Two and a half years was plenty long enough to get past his mourning period. Especially when what hurt him so bad had happened in junior high and he'd made no effort since to fix it.

"Maybe we could spend some time with her too," he finally settled on. Now that he thought about it, Axel wouldn't feel particularly comfortable screwing her friend rabid without at least trying to patch things over.

As if reading the boy's mind, Riku commented dryly, "Axel, I don't think Larxene is going to be happy when you have a one-night-stand with her friend. The friend whose name you don't even know, dare I remind your stupid ass." Indeed. Axel pursed his lips in frustrated protest. It was obvious to the redhead that, as one of his closest and wisest friends, Riku was trying his very hardest to poke holes in Axel's idiotic desire for this particular girl because, though he'd never admit it, walking away from this one would probably be in his best interest. Too bad his libido had programmed him to stop at nothing until he found a way around very sizeable dilemmas such as the one at hand.

However, Riku wasn't simply looking out for him in this situation. Axel hadn't been the only one to feel the ridiculous amounts of virgin entities wafting from the poor girl; and she was completely ignorant to the proven fact that Axel would very readily snatch her up as soon as she let her guard down. Riku, being a gentleman, wasn't going to let that happen without trying to stop it. AND he already had a plan; Axel, unfortunately for himself, could not say as much.

Riku smirked, allowing Sora, aka: his plan, to do the talking for him, "Perfect! Axel gets a second chance at having a _real_ girlfriend, and everyone gets to hang out with Larxene again! Yay!" Axel gritted his teeth, knowing that arguing with Sora was like arguing with a fish. You can't possibly win because it will never consciously understand the words coming out of your mouth.

Riku took the opportunity to get the three of them moving again. Class would be over any minute, and they needed to get into the music room before that happened. As he passed the lean redhead, he locked eyes with him seriously and said, "Actually Axel, Sora's right. Some real dating would be good for you. It _is_ senior year. You've already proven that you can get into just about anyone's pants you so choose; why not try something that makes you look like a bit less of a jackass?" And for once, Axel was silent. He followed the other two in quiet defeat as Sora linked arms with Riku and praised his good work for telling Axel to do the right thing. Riku smiled back happily, nodding when appropriate.

The best part? He'd meant every word of what he said. Riku could honestly say he'd seen Axel go through more girls in a week then he'd had in his short lifetime; not that he'd been with many, seeing as he'd been openly gay since he was 14 and madly in love with Sora since kindergarten. Officially only since last year, when he'd finally grown a pair and asked the boy out, but don't mind the details. Point being, Axel was good, and you know the saying. The higher you stand the farther you fall and all that jazz. Riku was convinced that Axel needed to slow down while he still could, and not many chances came around where he'd be able to push the redhead's buttons like he could now.

Speaking of which, he decided to abuse the circumstances and glance teasingly over his shoulder, "Who knows, you may even end up like Sora and me?" at the mention of his name, Sora did the unfortunate thing of hugging Riku while he was trying to walk. They tripped and fell, Sora laughed on the ground while Riku told him to be more careful. Axel smiled sadly, shaking his head. What sort of mental disease had his friend taken on to even joke that Axel liked guys? Since birth, he'd been a smooth-talking machine of girl seeking awesome. That wasn't about to change.

On the other hand, he considered the other part of what Riku had said. Going steady? That was the LAST thing he'd planned for his senior year. Who wants to get serious right before collage? Talk about boner killer. Still though, there was that tiny voice in the back of his head, the one that used to be shoulder-angel Axel but had been beaten down so many times over the past few years that it was now very tiny; it pleaded him to give someone, _anyone_, a chance. '_If you don't do this for yourself, you'll get yourself hurt someday. Or get STD's. Both of which are BAD',_ it whispered to him. It didn't make his breath hitch, or have him wanting Jack alive to see Rose's babies after the ship went under, but the minimum he could comprehend was genital warts and how he did not want to get them. Herpes were by far a bigger boner-killer than monogamy and mushy graduation breakups. Heh, priorities. It was amusing to find that even he still had some.

"Okay," he said, having to turn around so the boys would know he was talking to them.

They scrambled to get on their feet, and Riku blinked slowly, "What did you say?"

Axel smiled, pleasant and condescending. "I'm going to make that girl my girlfriend."

Riku felt his jaw drop, but it wasn't until he felt the drool that he made any effort to shut it. "T-That's great! I mean really, Axel; I didn't honestly think you'd go for that bid, even if it was my general plan, but hey! I'm not complaining!" he seemed to pause for a second as something occurred to him. "But Axel, how can you be so sure that you can make her your girlfriend? You still don't even know her name."

Axel let a Cheshire grin stretch across his face. "Watch and learn," He replied smoothly, turning the handle and opening the door to the music room, which Riku, at that moment, noticed they'd arrived in front of.

xxxxx

Demyx had been alphabetizing sheet music when Sora, Riku and Axel walked into the room. Once he saw his friends, his sheet music was abandoned and he walked up to them, beaming with a smile.

"Guys! Its so great to see you!" he said, greeting them with familiar slaps on the back and man-hugs. Because he had been so busy prepping for school, signing contracts, and getting briefed on his job, he hadn't seen them all summer.

"Hey Demyx, you too!" said Axel as they stepped back from some very masculine hugging.

"So, what are you guys doing here? Did you cut class or something?"

"Well, we figured since you were dropping out altogether, skipping one class period to visit you was nothing to sweat," answered Riku. The four of them had all gone to the same high school for three years, but Demyx had never been much of an intellect. He had long ago decided he was destined to make music, so he dropped out of school for lucky a job offer from the academy, where they had desperately needed a new music teacher. The last one had died of old age on short notice.

"Awe, for me? Shucks guys, you'll make me blush," he teased, drawing a small laugh from Sora and Riku while Axel simply smiled. "Besides, I got my GED. Wanna see it?" Before they'd answered, he was trying to unfold a piece of paper he'd pulled from his wallet.

Riku's palm was formally introduced to his face. Axel raised a hand, almost as if he'd try to stop the blonde, before mumbling, "Umm, I don't think you should keep that in your wallet, Dem… really…"

Demyx rolled his eyes, "Hey, if there's a fire, I'll have it on me. When the other teachers have no credentials 'cuz they weren't smart, like me, they'll wish they'd kept their diplomas in their wallets too!"

Riku almost looked like he'd cry from frustration. Was their friend really this much of a dumbass?

Demyx carefully folded the paper and stowed it back where he'd drawn it from. Sora nodded approvingly. Axel comforted Riku, patting him on the back and blaming everything on wax fumes from polishing the Sitar too much.

"So, what can I do for ya, boys? Pop a squat, there's a microwave in the back, and popcorn in the third drawer down on my desk, but the girls will be coming soon, so try not to make too much of a mess.

Axel cleared his throat,"Well, there's one other thing we're here for, aside from saying que pasa to our favorite compadre." Riku to rolled his eyes, but was ignored as Axel continued, Demyx raised a curious eyebrow in response. The redhead grinned, "There's a junior that just transferred here that I have my eyes on. All transfers get this class, right?" he asked hopefully. Sora sighed, and Riku wandered off to find a wall to bang his head against.

Demyx narrowed his eyes, "Axel, I'm a teacher now. That mean's I'm sort of responsible if you come into my class and impregnate my students." Axel opened his mouth to argue, but Demyx cut him off, "Don't lie, I know you well enough to know what you want from her," the sandy-blonde musician sighed. He should have known that Axel wouldn't come here unless it involved girls in some way. He didn't want to start the school year turning in his friend, as tight as they were, but he wasn't about to get fired for him either.

"Demyx, this time is different," Sora announced, very seriously. Demyx and Axel both turned to look at him with wide eyes, surprised to hear him standing up for Axel's tail chasing. Sora looked up with his big blues, and began to explain as well as he could, "You see, the girl Axel's interested in is friends with Larxene, so in order for us all to be friends again Riku and I convinced Axel to actually _date_ this one." Demyx looked at him dumbly, waiting for the punch line. Sora rolled his eyes, "he's going to make her his _girlfriend_! Demyx, isn't that awesome?"

After taking a moment to let it sink it, Demyx felt his eyes bug out in shock. Axel? Go steady? He couldn't believe that in a million years! But as he looked from face to face among the guys in front of him, Riku having returned from his masochistic moment to support the claim, none of them seemed to be joking.

"Wow," was all he could come up with. Sora and Riku grinned. He looked to Axel, who simply shrugged, and back to the other two boys, who were still grinning encouragingly. He gave them a skeptical look and asked carefully, "You two convinced him?"

Riku nodded, "he practically made the decision himself."

Axel had wandered off to look around the room as girls began to drift in. The class wasn't large, but the students who came in seemed pretty socially awkward and mostly kept to themselves.

Riku, Sora and Demyx kept talking, oblivious to Axel's disappearance, as he walked into the storage room and decided to wait there for his target.

"So, which one is it? Who's the lucky girl that won the Axel-lotto?" asked Demyx, bursting with excitement. Sora and Riku exchanged a look that made Demyx' smile falter. Chuckling lightly, he slapped Sora on the back and gripped Riku's shoulder friendlily, "Come on, you guys, you can tell me! Axel and I are as close as buds can get, even if I am a teacher! That kind of bro-hood is supposed to give me name-knowing rights."

"It's not that," Riku mumbled quietly. Demyx cocked his head in an oddly bird-like manner, silently pushing him to explain. Riku answered, "the problem is that we don't know her name. Hell, even Axel doesn't!"

Demyx processed the information for a moment before straitening up and rubbing his chin as if he had some sort of invisible facial hair. "Hmmm… interesting, very interesting." He stopped and looked up as if a light bulb went off over his head, "but you must have seen her by now, what does she look like?"

Sora took no time at all to immerse them in what he considered an ideal description, using his hands to help demonstrate the imagery. "Well, she's pretty short; I'd say she's even a tad shorter than me, and I'm a midget! Axel tells me so all the time," Demyx frowned and looked the question at Riku, who simply sighed and said, "Axel told him he has a 76% greater chance of getting into a circus if he just admits to being a midget. I gave up on that argument long ago." Sora frowned at the interruption, but Demyx seemed satisfied enough, and returned his attention to the small brunet. Sora took a deep breath before finishing, "She has blond hair, a little past her shoulders, and blue eyes. Oh! And she was wearing sweats and a t-shirt today."

Demyx grabbed the grade book on the music stand next to him and hit himself in the face with it. From behind its cover, he sighed, mildly exasperated, "Sora… You just described 30% of the girls in this school. I'm not even going to try on the part with the gym clothes. Or the uniform." Sora, seemed dumbfounded at the response, and looked to Riku for assistance.

"Let me try," said the silver-haired boy. Sora grinned appreciatively, and Demyx forced himself to risk lowering the grade book low enough to nod. "Like Sora said," Riku began, "she was small and blonde, with blue eyes. She seemed sharp, but only intelligent in an average upper-middleclass teenager intelligence kind of way. She was cute, not hot, and one of her traits that Axel found most endearing was that she practically screamed virgin. You know what I mean." Demyx had been nodding and giving Riku his undivided attention for the first half of the description, but now looked away as he thought.

Ding. Demyx brightened up like a Christmas tree on December 25th, followed by a heavy slump into what appeared to be frantic panic, grabbing at his fohawk-esque-mullet for dear life.

"Umm, Demyx? What's wrong? Do you know her?" Sora asked, tentatively.

Demyx nodded, "Yeah, and she's in this class".

"Great!" Sora cheered.

"Demyx, what's wrong with her?" pressed Riku.

The mullet-donning sitarist turned to look up at his friends with desperate eyes to notice that some of the students were staring at him suspiciously, so he promptly righted himself and smoothed down his button-up shirt. Looking back to the both of them, he seemed to be speaking directly to Riku as he shook his head and replied, "I don't know, man. She's a nice girl and all, but she confuses me," He frowned and looked up, as if trying to find words to describe his feelings on the matter, "there's something about her that's different from the rest of the girls. I can't describe it, but its like my gut is trying to tell me something."

Riku gave Demyx a confused look. The girl had seemed fine to him, if a bit quiet. "I thought she was all right, at least for someone who sits mute and drenched on a field when Axel tries flirt; but Larxene's friends with her so she can't be too crazy," he reassured.

Demyx nodded. The three of them stood in awkward silence for a few seconds until the door was shoved open rather loudly. Sora, Riku, and Demyx looked up; but Demyx' thoughts and confusion were weighing on him, so he couldn't bring himself to smile when in walked Roxas, who apparently Axel was going to make his girlfriend.

xxx

The small boy sighed as he trudged on in the heat. Between the temperature lack of sleep due to alarm clocks and talking with Larxene until it was late, all he wanted to do was sleep in music class, which shouldn't have been very difficult to manage. The pretty Redhead with hips could wait; re-charging his physique could not.

_ No,_ he told himself firmly, shaking his head, _Larxene asked me to skip seventh with her and I said no because I want to know what will happen. Damn it all if my curiosity isn't satisfied._

He stopped walking and stared at the door to the music room. Suddenly he wasn't sure he wanted to enter it if it would mean more complications. But that stupid, arrogant, flamboyant redhead kept popping up in his head like an add on google. Roxas gritted his teeth, "Damn you, Axel".

Inside the music room there was air conditioning, which immediately lessened Roxas' temper with world. He even smiled at Sora and Riku as they waved at him, but this was all Demyx met him with:

STARE.

Roxas faltered a bit. That was pretty odd behavior coming from the guy who had tackled him in a hug as welcome on her first day, and then immediately become flustered, begging 'her' not to press charges for sexual harassment.

In the back of the room there was a set of double doors that led to the instrument storage room. Roxas headed towards them to put his bag in a locker for the period. He looked over his shoulder, just in case, but no; Axel wasn't with the rest of the guys. Roxas frowned and grumbled to himself over the disappointment this redhead had caused him. So much for satisfying curiosity.

Roxas continued to murmur his confusion and annoyance to himself as he trudged all the way to the back of the room, through those heavy doors, and to the back of the storage room where he placed his bag in an empty locker.

"You're finally here!" Roxas spun around, hands up in case he had to fight back, and froze when he saw whose voice had surprised him. Axel threw himself onto Roxas when he opened his mouth to yell for help, eyes wide with confusion, placing a hand over the smaller boy's mouth in the process. They were now backed into a corner.

Axel looked into the bright sky-blue eyes that stared back at him. He looked for something, anything that would tell him how to do this. If he had learned anything from his past years in high school, it was that simply observing could discover 90% of what a girl will and won't do for you.

Roxas, unaware of Axel's mental assessment, had had enough of standing in a corner with a stranger holding their hand over his mouth. The short-term panic was fading as he realized he wasn't going to be raped or kidnapped, and he was pissed.

It was as if a switch was flipped as Roxas' gaze went from confused and unfocused to sharp and threatening. If he was correct, they had now been standing in that same stupid position for over a minute.

Axel's eyes widened a bit at the dangerous look from the small girl he'd captured. _Interesting_, he decided. He could feel her jaw shifting under his palm, trying to find a place to bite him, but he was smarter than letting her do that to him.

Axel suddenly released his grip on the blonde, causing Roxas to stagger, and the taller redhead was grinning ludicrously.

Roxas looked up into perfect green eyes that were glimmering in a way he wasn't sure he wanted them to. He met them with a look that plainly said, 'I won't hesitate to maim you if you touch me again'.

The man in question raised his hands in a, 'see? Harmless!' sort of fashion. "Hey, I'm sorry," he rushed out, "I didn't mean to scare you or anything." Scared? Roxas? This delusional redhead thought he had _scared _Roxas? Well surely being grabbed, hand-gagged, and shoved into a corner is startling; but he wasn't scared. He was livid.

Axel chuckled as Roxas' face grew redder and darker with sheer irritation, quickly on its way to dropping into the realms of anger. What had been a subject of interest not too long ago was now headed straight for getting its ass kicked.

"Come on, I just wanted to introduce myself properly," Axel stuck out his hand, still giving off a radiant smile that advertised his simultaneous knowledge of everything and nothing, "though you've probably got it memorized by now, my name's Axel. What I'd like to know is who you are?"

Roxas looked at his feet for a moment. He could almost feel the steam rising from his head. He had just been practically manhandled, and was now supposed to lightly shake it off as a greeting? Hell no. Being short meant two things; that you have to ask for help to reach the top shelves, and that you're obligated to establish yourself as dominant or else people walk all over you. So that left Roxas with two options: shake the hand like Namine would and then go hide behind Larxene, or put the ginger in his place. Guess which he picked?

When he looked up, Axel was still standing there with his hand out, looking like an open invitation for dinner and a movie. Roxas met the taller boy's eyes, and the know-it-all smile faltered. Not so tough now, was he?

Roxas swaggered forward and pivoted his foot, throwing his arm forward and smashing his knuckles into Axel's jaw as if he would punch through it. Axel spun from the momentum, and landed face down on the tile floor with a loud slap. He was going to hurt later, but Roxas wasn't quite finished.

The small blonde took two steps forward and knelt down next to Axel, who was still lying motionlessly in shock from being hit by a girl. Roxas saw the perplexed look blatantly in pretty green eyes as he leaned in and whispered, "Don't underestimate me. I hate it when guys like you do that. Keep in mind that I'm FAR out of your league. And if you touch me again, I'll send you to the hospital. Consider this your warning shot."

Dropping the boy like a dirty sock, Roxas stood to walk away, leaving the rattled flirt behind like trash waiting to be picked up. Taking a step forward he smirked, feeling a bit of a power rush from having handled the situation so smoothly. But then, he heard a noise from behind him, and a hand brushed his ankle.

The blonde turned and looked down at Axel, still on the floor, lip split and already starting to swell. Axel's eyes were wide in awe as he gasped, "Tell me your name."

Roxas blinked, before answering simply, "Namine."

He didn't look back this time when he turned to leave. Without so much as a flitting glance, Roxas collected his bag and left the music room leaving an utterly confused teacher, Sora, Riku, and the rest of the class behind him. Yuna was just walking in, and upon seeing Riku and Sora her eyes widened. She turned to ask Roxas something, but he simply shook his head, blonde hair waving behind him, and walked out of the classroom. He hadn't been out of line; Axel had threatened him, and he had put him in check. Roxas smiled at himself as he walked towards the dormitory. Hopefully that dumbass ginger would think twice before cornering him again. As for his curiosity? Write it down as satisfied.

xxx

They'd all been equally confused at first. Just what did Axel say that was so awful it would drive the petite girl out of the classroom? Yuna marched up to Riku, Sora and Demyx before waving her hands and huffing, "Just what did you do this time? First Axel had to fuck with Larxene, now you guys are messing with Namine? Men! You're all scum!"

Sora looked like a kicked puppy. Demyx looked very pointedly at his grade book, which was upside down to boot, and Riku looked between the two before growling, "You're out of line, Yuna. We just came to see Demyx. Axel was the one who-" and then they heard it. A moan, low and painful, coming from the storage closet.

The girls in the classroom whispered furiously, trying to push someone to go see what was making the pitiable noises. Riku took a step forward, purposefully moving towards the room in the back, when Axel nearly fell through the doors, blood smeared over his face.

"Axel!" cried Sora and Riku collectively, both rushing to their friend's aide. Yuna stood, silently frozen, with her jaw hanging freely in astonishment. Demyx was the only one laughing. Actually, he was crying, from laughing so hard, but he was bent over so far that no one could tell, not that they were looking at him anyway.

Axel had managed to get himself upright again by the time Riku and Sora got across the room. The taller of the two tried to wrap an arm under Axel and help him walk, but the redhead shook it off, having eyes only for the doors where Namine had left and limping a bit as he walked back to the front of the room. Everyone watched him do so.

Demyx had finally stopped laughing, and stood up to slap Axel on the shoulder, "Good one, Axe. I never thought I'd see you get decked by a target. Especially not one shorter than Sora!" Yuna was staring at him wondrously, as if he'd been cursed or touched by an angel or something. Riku and Sora were watching him from behind, waiting for him to say something.

Suddenly, Axel switched the full weight of his gaze onto Demyx, who was trying his hardest not to start laughing again. After allowing himself a moment to cough and compose himself, Demyx asked carefully, "What are you thinking Axel?"

The redhead blinked, face blank with shocked astonishment as he answered simply, "I just found the girl I'm going to marry."

**oooooooh I'm excited! I don't thin its just me here, but I personally think the best fics are the ones that have the author spazzing just as much as the reader because they wrote something great, or clever. Like how I was nearly doing flips when I thought of the name "Cross My Heart" because it was so deliciously punny and awesome... Just me? Haha... right... R&R plz! I love you AAAALLLLL!**


	7. The Color Green

**Sweet Jesus +_+. I got a bit carried away writing this, and couldn't really stop until I reached something that I felt was satisfyingly conclusive... You'll see... So yeah, I'm working on the upcoming chapters and shouldn't take too long to update, but looking at my record, who really knows anymore? llOrzlll... On a better note, *happy dance* this was amazingly fun to write, I kept getting all tingly and excited XD, but when I finished I looked at the tab and went 0_o HOLY SHIT 14 PAGES! Yay me :E**

**I don't think I could thank each of you who review individually or my AN at the beginning would be stupidly long, but to each and every one of you who've been reviewing from the beginning, or reviewed in the past couple days, THANK YOU SO MUCH! It really means a lot to me XP**

**Now READ!**

**P.S. Later on, when Axel and Roxas are interacting, I switch back and forth from referring to Roxas as 'he' and 'she'. I revised it several times, hoping it would make sense to people besides me, because I was trying to use the one that properly describes the viewpoint of whoever is thinking/speaking/acting, etc... I'm sure someone will let me know how it worked out, so I apologize in advance if its confusing!**

"You did WHAT?" pieces of instant ramen shot from her mouth as she stuttered. It had taken exactly 21 hours for Yuna's account of what had occurred between Axel and 'Namine' in the music room the prior to spread to their entire student populous. She hadn't picked up on the whole 'girl I'm going to marry' thing either, she'd been shock from the view his busted face, but the smack down alone was plenty to ignite a verbal wildfire. Larxene hadn't bothered to mention anything to Roxas for most of the day, knowing the poor boy was being harassed with questions from everyone else in the school already, but upon returning to their dorm and asking for what really happened, she was shocked to have the outlandish rumor confirmed.

Roxas didn't look up from the essay he'd been composing for Lit class as he replied, boredom ringing in his inflection, "Hey, he deserved it. If you want to flirt with someone, flirt. Don't corner them and then make it seem like no isn't an option. It's rude".

Larxene rolled her eyes. As Roxas had so keenly picked up on, Axel had zero tact. Chivalry he had, maybe, when it was convenient or in his best interests; but encounters with Axel were usually lacking in modern day courtesies.

However, Larxene chuckled in response. This persuaded Roxas to lean over the guard on his bunk and look down at the girl beneath him.

"What's so funny?" he asked, clearly missing the joke.

Larxene was grinning as she cackled, "Normally when a guy wants to take a swing at Axel, they end up in the hospital before even getting the chance to lift an arm," Roxas gave her a disapproving look as she started to convulse from holding in the snorts and giggles, "But here you come along, a tiny blond 'girl' that he's trying to ask on a date, and you deck him! This is too great!" Larxene grabbed her sides and giggled hysterically. Roxas' face turned faintly scarlet, wanting desperately to argue against the 'tiny girl' part, but knowing it was as accurate as not to at the moment.

Larxene sighed as she motioned to wipe tears from the corners of her eyes. Roxas mumbled, defiantly, "_You're_ the one who told me to be careful of him." He was starting to feel bad about hitting Axel. Gay or not, he told himself, he was used to behaving like a guy, and guys respond with violence and bravado to being cornered and potentially molested. Especially if said potential molester was legitimately interested in you, which Roxas had found quite obviously in Axel.

Unfortunately, it wasn't anywhere near what Namine would have done in under the circumstances. He'd get chewed out on the phone later by his sister for drawing the attention of what appeared to be every single student in his academy, along with some teachers, to himself over something as petty as a name. On the bright side, it wasn't exactly bad publicity for him, aside from everyone assuming he'd be sleeping with Axel within a week. They'd seen his act in exactly the same light Axel had; surprisingly badass and reckless for a small virgin who happened to be cute, and presumably shy.

As he sat, quietly in thought, he didn't notice Larxene climbing the ladder to his bunk until she put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up in surprise. Her pale green eyes were filled with sincerity as she tried to give a comforting smile, "Roxas, if anything, I think I should be afraid _for_ him now. Sorry, but he's gotten everyone he's ever wanted since junior high and I didn't want things to get… complicated for you".

Roxas smiled back sadly, with only a hint of annoyance in his eyes, "You thought I might fall for him after only just meeting him?" The look on her face alone told him he'd hit the bull's-eye.

Larxene's cheeks flushed briefly, a manifestation of her embarrassment from assuming that he, as a gay male, would react to Axel like any strait girl would. She'd been proven very, very wrong. Roxas smirked contently and turned back to his essay, blonde hair wildly pointing in every direction thanks to his wig, which was hanging off the bedpost at that moment.

The older girl looked at him thoughtfully. On the other hand, maybe it was a little early to scrap her stereotype _entirely._ The only gay guys she'd known before Roxas were just like ordinary dudes for the most part, but even the ones that had found Narnia they were so deep in the closet had their moments, if far and few, of rainbow fruity glory to distinct themselves from the strait population.

Larxene smiled quietly as she continued to sit with her legs crossed on Roxas' bunk. Thinking on it now, she would be lying to say the boys and she hadn't been pretty good friends before all the... shit happened. Axel, moron though he was, seemed to have gotten over her finally. She mutely wished that she'd see more of them now that Roxas was in the equation, though she'd never admit it aloud.

The lanky girl peered up from her thoughts at the sound of a notebook slapping shut. Roxas was throwing her a satisfied grin.

"I finished my essay!" he announced, beaming.

Larxene glowered and moaned, "I haven't even started that yet."

Roxas stuck his tongue out and tossed the notebook onto his desk below. When nothing was broken in its landing, he turned back towards Larxene and frowned, "By the way, I've been meaning to ask you something."

Larxene raised an eyebrow and waited comfortably for Roxas to ask away. She leaned back, supporting herself by placing her palms on the mattress behind her, briefly raising a hand to tuck a stray strand of platinum hair behind her ear.

Roxas tilted his head curiously as the words started to flow, "What happened between you and Axel? You seem to know him better than everyone else here, but you still don't hang out with him anymore."

When the taller girl didn't respond, Roxas was worried she might not have heard him. "Uhhh, Larxene? Lar? You there?" he leaned forward to wave a hand in front of her face, and she swatted it away promptly, furrowing her brow slightly.

The younger boy sat back and waited patiently for her answer. Larxene leaned forward and sighed. "We've been best friends since kindergarten. I hung out with a lot of boys back in the day, because I liked to play football around the time most girls started doing their makeup and worrying about their wedding dresses or whatever." Roxas was leaning forward, nodding when appropriate. Larxene smiled sweetly at the memories, "I was the only girl he refused to put his moves on. He considered me one of the boys, and I liked it that way. Then, somewhere along the line during junior high, he'd gotten the idea that needed to lose his virginity stuck in his head. Badly. It was almost as if he'd convinced himself that he wouldn't be a real man until he successfully seduced someone. Once he'd lost it he wasn't satisfied, and he's been desperately searching for _something_ ever since. I don't think he even knows what he wants anymore, but he thought girls would give him some sort of answer, and he's been committed to the task ever since."

Larxene suddenly shook her head, as if trying to unscramble her thoughts, "One day it all changed. He stopped talking to me for a few weeks for no apparent reason, and when I finally got pissed off enough to go scream some sense into him, he asked me to be his girlfriend. He'd never had a girlfriend before. I said yes."

Roxas' eyes bugged out, but he didn't say anything. Larxene was looking at him carefully, as if wondering whether this new information would change his thoughts of Axel in any significant way. The smaller blond stared wondrously at her. She'd dated Axel? For real?

After a few seconds had passed, Roxas cleared his throat before asking, "So what? Did he dump you like all the other girls? Were you hurt?"

Larxene smiled, but Roxas didn't feel happy to see it. He suddenly wished he hadn't said anything. She looked like he'd just touched on something that was hard for her to think about, but just before he opened his mouth to take it back she met his eyes and answered calmly, "Not quite; the opposite, actually. He started to get serious about me, but with the feelings came control issues and anxious behavior that I was nowhere near ready to deal with. We were in ninth grade, for Christ's sake!" Larxene threw her hands up for emphasis, sounding exasperated, but okay. Roxas felt his jaw drop, and couldn't stop it, because if Axel hadn't dumped her that meant…

"So I dumped him," she chirped, as if it were as simple as 1+1. "He tried relentlessly to make me 'his' again after that, even going as far as sabotaging my relationships for the next few months. Eventually, I told him I was done putting up with his shit, and that I never wanted to see him again; thus, my transfer to the academy."

Roxas seemed to be in shock. Larxene imagined Vincent Valentine giving him an unsolvable problem and telling him if he didn't get the right answer in ten seconds, the world would explode; because that's what he looked like.

She laughed, and it was a sincere; pleasant like bells ringing and wind whistles and whatnot. Her head flew back and for a moment her bobbed hair seemed to float as gravity temporarily released its hold. Roxas briefly saw a glimpse of what Axel had fallen for in Larxene, but it was gone before anything had really registered in him. She abruptly flopped onto the bed with her fingers laced under her head, and stared at the ceiling, her eyes crinkling warmly. "Don't worry so much, Roxas. Axel's over me. That much was obvious by his ability to ignore me in favor of you when he visited during P.E. class yesterday." Roxas looked uneasily at her, as if he wasn't sure what to do or say to that. She smirked and sat up, bringing herself forward onto all fours until their eyes were only inches apart. The boy swallowed nervously. The corner of the girl's lip twitched upward mischievously as she whispered, "and after your stunt in the music room, I'd bet anything that he's crazy about you now."

Roxas felt his eyes go wide, and he scrambled backwards shuddering, "N-No way! It's not supposed to work like that," he was shaking his head furiously in denial, "You must be joking, because that's not, in any way, what I wanted!"

Larxene guffawed and teased, "Well too bad, because that's exactly what you'll get. Roxas, he's used to women fawning over his whims uncontrollably. You split his lip and made him see stars! He's going to be fucking in love with you before you know it!" she was squealing with laughter as the boy sat pathetically and said nothing.

He frowned slightly, looking almost angry but not, as he reached behind him and hurled his pillow at his roommate's face. She yelped when the mass hit her, but only ended up laughing harder than ever, "Get ready, Roxas. You're about to be ass deep in alligators, and didn't even know you were in the everglades."

Within an hour, Roxas was turning into a chronic yawner. It had been a long day. The tall thin girl, and the short skinny boy sat next to each other with their backs against the wall behind their bunks, content to smile drowsily and look across the room at nothing. Their conversation had quickly descended into random chatter about school and TV and food, until they'd finally run out of things to say and grew comfortably silent.

Suddenly, Larxene felt a weight on her shoulder, and turned to see Roxas leaning against her, fighting and to his eyes open and losing. "We should probably sleep soon. It's Tuesday, and we have school tomorrow," she said, unconvincingly. Roxas tried to will himself to nod, but gave up in favor of trying not to fall asleep.

The older girl smiled endearingly at her roommate, wrapping an arm around his surprisingly narrow shoulders, even if they would have been a bit wide for a real girl's. He sighed, and slumped onto her lap, resting his head on her far leg as she absent-mindedly ran her fingers through his choppy boy cut.

After a few minutes of this, Larxene spoke softly, "You know, Rox, the thing about Axel…" she looked down to find that he'd fallen asleep in her lap. His eyelashes were fluttering as he dreamed, and his chest slowly rising and falling with each breath. She sighed disappointedly, but moved her hand carefully to brush some of the stray locks of golden blond hair out of his eyes. "The thing about Axel," she continued whispering to herself, "is that whether he's gay or not doesn't matter." She looked up at the ceiling and rested her head against the wall behind her, "He can be an idiot sometimes, but he has a good heart; and you'll be an even bigger idiot if you don't fall for him in time."

xxx

Over the course of the next three days, interest in the story of Namine's knuckle sandwich had died down to a low simmering. Roxas had only been asked if he was sleeping with Axel, if he planned on sleeping with Axel, or if he'd really punched Axel for trying to ask 'her' to sleep with him two or three times that day. These were comparatively fewer than the initial groups of five or six that would bombard him with questions at every possible opportunity, the first day after it happened. However, this one victory didn't have Roxas at ease over anything.

Wednesday morning, he'd woken up to find a letter shoved under the door. Larxene hadn't seen it before he'd picked it up, so he kept it hidden and left it sealed. On the front he'd read:

"For Namine,

~Axel."

Thursday morning he woke up, and looked to the door without meaning to. Sure enough, there was another letter. This one said:

"Namine, read this. Please.

~Axel."

Roxas had dug up the other one from the place he'd buried it in his desk, and instead placed the two in his school binder, suddenly nervous that Larxene would find them accidentally. He didn't want to know what they said; he wanted Axel to leave him alone! And he could trust that Larxene sure as hell wouldn't go sniffing around his history binder.

Today was Friday, and that morning Roxas had purposefully woken up before Larxene, picked up the letter, and placed it with the other two in his binder. Larxene was just waking up as he left for school, an hour earlier than he usually left. She watched him curiously as he walked out, mumbling an indecipherable "good-bye", but Roxas didn't take the time to make up an excuse. This morning's letter had been addressed as such:

"Hey. Read the damn letter already. And if you've read the other letters and are choosing to ignore it, then keep in mind that I'm not going to give up. This is your last chance to respond to me willingly. My next plan is much less subtle.

You know who it's from.

NOW READ MY GOD DAMN LETTER!"

Roxas went to the school Library. It wasn't nearly as modern a room on the inside as the rest of the school, but it was cozy and relatively near his first class. There were other girls there, most of which were hunched over books, furiously studying for a test or rushing to finish the remainder of the previous night's homework. In the back were some covered desks for people who enjoyed privacy as they worked, and Roxas bee lined for them.

For the remaining 50 minutes until Spanish began, he simply sat there; his history binder on the desk. He was debating internally whether or not to read the letters, and dreading whatever could be inside of them.

Soon enough the warning bell screeched its notice that his time was up, and Roxas begrudgingly put the binder, untouched for the entire 50 minutes, back into his bag.

The faux girl dragged her feet as she walked to class. People recklessly bumped into the small blonde in the hallways, and he let it happen. He couldn't stop thinking. What was he going to do? What could Axel possibly have planned that would be worse than showing up at his Music class?

His memory of Spanish class was foggy. Kairi had thrown him a note once asking if he was feeling alright, but it had hit him in the head when he wasn't looking, and he'd fallen out of his desk in a surprised spasm. Cid had eyed him suspiciously and told him to be more careful, but other than that the period was uneventful.

Kairi had pretty much gotten the message by the time second period was beginning, and left him alone for the most part. On his way from English to History with Rikku, he'd told her simply, "I'm just feeling a little off today."

At lunch, he sat quietly as the other girls chattered around him, Larxene eyeing him suspiciously, but restraining herself from asking him anything around the other girls. Yuna, however, had been the only person at the table (other than Paine, who was absorbed in a new book) who hadn't seen Roxas at all that morning, so she only saw it fit to ask, "Hey, Namine, you on your period or something? You're acting strange."

That woke Roxas up. Blood rushed to his face, and he swallowed nervously as everyone turned to look at him, questioningly. Larxene looked amused.

"W-What? No! I'm just not really on my game today, that's all!" he managed to stammer out, unconvincingly.

Yuna rolled her eyes and turned to dig into her bag. He sat quietly, looking desperately to Larxene for help, but she simply shrugged as if to say, 'unfortunately for you, those who leave the room earlier than Larxene must endure, because they chose the path to not tell Larxene what's wrong. Help you I cannot, young padawan'. Okay, so that line verbatim was a bit of a stretch; but Roxas shifted jaw and glared at her nonetheless, mildly irritated that she was delighting in his suffering. Rikku's cousin sat up and reached toward him, a small yellow wrapper in her manicured hand.

Roxas stared at the item blankly, not sure what to do about it.

Yuna leaned across the table with her free hand to grab one of Roxas' and placed the wrapper in his hand, "It's a tampon, dummy. Don't worry, I just got off mine so I had spares."

Roxas didn't move. His face drained of all color. It was like he'd stopped breathing, blinking, and creating or processing thoughts altogether. Everyone waited for him to do something, and when he remained rigid, Larxene decided to throw him a line.

"Oh sweet!" she snatched the tampon from Roxas' still open palm and placed it in her backpack. He glanced up at her, slowly re-booting, and she discretely threw him a sympathetic smile. To the others, she grinned, "I just started mine; you're a life-saver Yu!"

Yuna frowned at the exchange, and Roxas looked very pointedly at his hands. This was foreign water to him, and he didn't want to be in the spotlight under any circumstance.

Larxene responded to the unanswered question amongst the girls, "Oh, you don't have to worry about Namine. She's on birth control, one of those 'once a year period' ones."

Everyone at the table, Paine exempt, collectively 'Oh'd'. Paine was smirking as she read, and Roxas mentally cursed her for knowing why this situation was so damn ironic and wishing her book would spontaneously combust. Kairi was the first to say anything on the matter. She inhaled sharply before crying, "So you AREN'T a virgin! SINCE WHEN?"

Roxas looked at the redhead, eyes wide. "H-huh? Why would you ask me that!" his face was turning pink again from embarrassment, but before Kairi could answer he segued his emotions towards annoyance, "I mean, honestly, does _everyone_ I meet automatically think I'm a virgin? Do I give off a pheromone that tells you guys I've retained my honor or something?"

Larxene cut in before anyone could comment, "She gets bad cramps. Doctor prescribed 'em. Don't worry, she's still a virgin." Larxene winked. The subject had come up between them before, and Roxas had answered, if as awkwardly as walking in on your parent's getting it on, but long story short she had a reliable source, and knew very confidently that her roommate still had his v-card.

Rikku made an outraged noise followed by, "I'm so jealous! One period a year sounds fucking AMAZING!" and thus, the girls were distracted from Roxas.

It wasn't long before the topic changed, and Roxas fell into the conversation normally, having completely forgotten about Axel or his letters. After he'd finished eating, he stood to throw away his trash, and knocked over his bag, which for some reason had ended up next to him on the bench of the table. The top of the bag flew open and the contents were spewed onto the floor in a mess of notebooks and paper. Rikku, who'd been sitting next to him, turned to help gather his belongings. Roxas thanked her for the help, and re-collected everything except for his history binder. Upon noticing the missing contents, he looked up to see Rikku holding the binder in one hand, and Axel's letters in the other. Apparently they'd slipped from their pocket in the binder when they fell. Roxas' mouth went dry.

"Guys, get a load of this!" as she squealed eagerly, Rikku dumped the letters on the table. Even Paine perked up at the mention of Axel's name, and they fell upon them like a pack of hyenas to a carcass. Roxas moved slowly and sat, waiting for the commotion to die down.

Larxene turned to him, discovery glimmering in her eyes, "So these are why you've been acting so weird lately! Why haven't you opened them?"

All eyes were on the small boy. He felt a drop of sweat run down his back and groaned, "Why should I? It's obvious he just wants to sleep with me, and I already know I won't do that. What's the point of reading them?"

Kairi was looking most perplexed of all the girls. She didn't look up as she answered his rhetorical question, "Namine, I'm his sister. I've seen him pick up chicks for sex," her eyes turned up to him now, looking close to haunted, "I've never heard of him writing a girl love letters. He didn't even do that for Larxene."

Rikku, Selphie, and Yuna whispered to each other, murmuring about the strange connection between Namine and Kairi's brother, and what the contents of the letters could be.

Larxene gathered up the remaining two envelopes and handed them to Roxas, who took them, hesitantly. "Read these. Now. You can always say no to him after you read them," she ordered.

Roxas stared at the letters for a moment before nodding silently and tearing open the first one. He unfolded a sheet of paper and read it aloud,

Namine,

I humbly apologize for my behavior yesterday. I was too forward, and obviously upset you.

But you are the most insanely intriguing girl I've ever had the honor of meeting, and I need to see more of you. Hopefully on better terms, but if a punch in the jaw is what it takes to win you over, so be it!

I'll be waiting on the roof of your dorm from eight o'clock on tonight, so grace me with your company whenever it's convenient.

~Axel

Roxas didn't have to be asked to read the next letter, he was rabidly tearing it open as soon as he'd uttered the last syllable of the first one.

Okay, I get it. You're mad. But please, give me a chance to make it up to you! I want to ask you on a date properly.

Come meet me. Tonight. Same time, same place.

I'll be waiting.

~Axel

The small blond hesitated before opening the third envelope. The girls were waiting intently, having read its cover already. What he'd learned thus far was that Axel had spent the past two nights out on the roof of the girl's dorm, waiting for him, and Roxas had never shown up.

The blonde took a deep breath and ripped, retrieving the third letter from it's paper sheath.

I don't know what to do anymore. Tonight's your last chance. I've apologized. Your move.

There's a party at my bud Riku's house. Bring some friends. Larxene knows how to get there, so bring her too, and come get to know us. If you don't I swear to god I won't hesitate to kidnap you from your god damn P.E. class and force you to let me buy you fucking dinner and a movie.

Show up.

~Axel

The table was unnaturally void of noise. If a feather had touched the ground, they would have heard it. Rikku attempted to ease the awkward shock by chuckling nervously and saying, "I've heard about this party. It sounds like it's going to be fun; most of the girls I know are going."

Roxas was still staring at the paper. Larxene pursed her lips, as if deciding whether or not to say anything, but she seemed to make up her mind as she suggested, "I think we should go." Kairi glared at her, but the taller girl merely shrugged. "Hey, if you asked me I'd tell you the boy's serious. I've never seen him so…" she stopped, searching for a word that fit.

Kairi filled in the blank, flatly, "Desperate."

Yuna looked from one girl to the next before saying carefully, "So what do we do now?"

Larxene grinned devilishly, "We finish school, and then hit the dorms to change. We're going to have some fun tonight ladies, and I'm going to get shitfaced!"

There was a collective cheer from the others, even Kairi smiled a bit at the prospect of loud music, booze, and somewhere to drag Paine along for a good time. Roxas was the only one who seemed rather unexcited for the event. Rikku looked at him with concern lining her face, "Have you ever been to a party, Namine?"

Roxas folded the letters and stowed them back into his binder with their envelopes. "Once," he recalled, "I got so drunk I couldn't think, let alone remember half of the night when I woke up. I'd fallen asleep with my head in the toilet. Haven't been to one since."

Kairi laughed, "Oh, that's just because it was your first time! Everyone drinks too much at their first party, but you get better at judging your limits with experience," she jerked a thumb at Rikku, "Boobs over here ran around topless at her first party, then passed out on the lawn in her underwear."

Yuna and Larxene sniggered; Rikku groaned. Roxas smirked humorously at the thought. There was always somebody who had it worse, and more often than not it was Rikku 'somebody' in this group.

"So it's settled!" proclaimed Yuna, clapping her hands together. And thus, they began planning for their first party of the year.

xxx

Axel was pacing back and forth, nervously running a hand through his thick spikes of red hair. Riku watched him from a comfortable spot where he was leaning against the wall, red cup in one hand. Sora was off mingling or dancing or something, leaving Riku to babysit Axel.

Ever since getting punched in the face, it was like his friend had broken something in his brain, or maybe in Axel's case fixed something that had been previously dysfunctional. Riku and Demyx found it amusing as hell, but they couldn't leave him alone for fear that he'd make a mad dash to go and snatch Namine up forcibly when no one was looking.

"I still can't believe you'd make me go through the trouble of hosting a party over this," commented Riku dryly, but the implication in his words was a lie. He was thoroughly enjoying Axel's discomfort and anxiety, and even the party wasn't something to complain about.

Axel continued to pace in front of the silver-haired boy as he chattered, "because she didn't respond to my first idea, which was to go to her; so now I'm trying to get her to come to me willingly."

Riku nodded and said thoughtlessly, "Yeah, so throw a party at your own house. Why drag me into this?"

The taller boy stopped pacing for a moment to throw Riku a deadpan look that clearly told him he should know exactly why Axel couldn't throw his own party, and then continued his occupation of walking back and forth.

The party was bustling. Being the first one of the year, nearly everyone who'd caught whiff of it had shown up. Demyx had politely declined the invitation because of his job, and they'd all assured him that was probably a good call. The two boys were in the living room, which had been converted to a dance floor for the occasion. Riku had hooked up his surround sound to some bad pop music on someone's ipod, and the floor was bursting with barely-still-sober teenagers, grinding to the beat.

The music was stupidly loud, and they could feel the bass reverberating in their bones, but Axel refused to relocate because it was the only room with a clear view of the front door. He wasn't planning to move until the person he was waiting for arrived.

Rikku casually glanced at his watch. It was 10:30pm, a little after the time-frame that could have been considered 'fashionably late'. If they didn't show by 11:00, they weren't coming.

Finally, it seemed Axel had had enough. With a frustrated snort, he flung his hands into the air and stormed off to the kitchen to grab something to drink. Riku smirked, knowing Axel was pretty damn close to kicking and screaming over this girl. But ultimately he figured she was just that: a girl. He didn't take Axel's statement that he'd marry her seriously. Axel had found a girl who was on level or higher ground compared to him, and he was caught up in the chase. As far as Riku was concerned, the moment she gave in, he'd get bored and do what he always did with girls; it would just take a bit longer with this one. He still thought it was good for Axel to practice having a real relationship, he just didn't see this one working out in the long run for the time being.

As Riku considered this, the front door opened and in walked six girls. He couldn't help but find it hilariously ironic that Namine had finally arrived, just after Axel had given up on playing watch dog.

He pushed himself off the wall and strode forward, grinning widely at Larxene. "Hey guys, glad you could make it!" he said nicely, hugging Larxene when he was close enough.

"Hey Riku, nice to see you too," replied Larxene, returning the smile. Kairi waved childishly before finding Paine's hand and winding her way through the people to find something to drink, or somewhere to make out. The remainder exchanged their polite hellos, and everyone besides Roxas and Larxene eventually drifted off in different directions to enjoy themselves.

Kairi had come to their dorm room earlier that evening help Namine dress and do makeup. Roxas thought she'd done an outstanding job, and he felt hot; which was odd, considering he was disguised as his sister. He figured as long as he tried not to think on it too much, it wouldn't bother him. All the other girls had looked pretty damn good themselves, but he supposed that was the norm for parties; dressing up and all.

"So, you decided to give in to Axel's demands after all?" coaxed Riku teasingly, taking a sip of his beer.

Roxas' face grew annoyed as he replied, flatly, "I came because he threatened to kidnap me from gym class if I didn't show up."

Riku laughed, "Yeah that sounds more like him. I was wondering what he was thinking, writing letters and all that. He's never been particularly good at the mushy stuff."

Larxene rolled her eyes, "Tell me about it," after a pause to scan the room, she looked at Riku, questioningly, "By the way, where is he? Shouldn't he be gloating over his victory by now?"

Riku glanced over his shoulder, then back at the girls as he answered her, "Oh, he went to the back to get something to drink. He's been pacing over there by the sound system for the past hour and a half or so, and I think he finally decided to give up on waiting for you."

Roxas blinked dumbly. He couldn't come up with an intelligent thing to say, so he kept his mouth shut. Larxene shook her head, "That kid; what a complete moron."

Riku excused himself to go find Sora and make sure he wasn't getting into trouble, so Larxene took the liberty of dragging Roxas through the dance floor and towards the kitchen to grab some beer. Axel had come and gone, so they didn't see him by the drinks, but Roxas wouldn't have wanted it any other way.

Larxene chose two plastic cups and handed one to Roxas, "Here," she chirped happily. Roxas took the cup and looked up at her expectantly. "It will help you relax, and give you something to blame if you end up sending him to the floor again," she joked. He felt a small smile tugging his lips as he raised the cup to his mouth and downed the whole thing in one large gulp. Chugging; it really was the only proper way to drink beer.

xxx

Thirty minutes and several plastic cups later, Roxas came waddling out of the kitchen onto the dance floor. He swayed distantly to the music and closed his eyes, moving by the feel from the other intoxicated bodies around him. He stayed that way for a few songs until he felt someone come up behind him, and two hands found their way to his waist.

Kairi had ended up dressing him in a tight, sleeveless top with a relatively modest but stylish neckline, and a black miniskirt. Larxene had given him a crash-course on miniskirts, because he had known absolutely nothing about wearing them. The basics: don't sit, don't run, don't do anything that requires too much movement, otherwise it would ride up like a bitch and show the world whatever was hiding underneath. Luckily, the skirt was tight enough that his drunken swaying barely altered its length. Nonetheless he'd never let Namine see what he wore that night.

On his feet he had a pair of wedges that Rikku had lent him for the evening. Heels were hard enough for him, but these shoes added weight to the messed up balance heels already dealt out, making it very hard for him to stay vertical; thus, swaying. No dancing.

The hands that had found his waist were sliding forward and around him. He didn't really notice; he was listening to the music, so he kept on swaying, and leaned back against the body behind him to ease some of the weight on his feet. The mystery person behind him took this as an invitation to go for the kill, and Roxas was soon shocked to find a bulge near his rear, hands on his lower hips, and a broad chest against his back. That was enough to get him to turn around.

The guy, fortunately, was not Axel. It was a complete stranger Roxas had never met before. He'd stopped swaying to look up at the boy, and found that he was fairly attractive, and had the body of someone who played a lot of sports. Sober Roxas would have politely excused himself and walked away. Drunk Roxas, however, stepped forward and started grinding with the boy he'd never met. The stranger was pleased, and picked up where he'd left off, letting his hands roam down Roxas' back and near his ass, pressing his torso against Roxas', and using a leg between the smaller 'girl's' thighs to lead the churning motion, gyrating to the booming bass of a nameless song.

This only lasted about five seconds, though, before a firm hand was pulling Roxas off the other boy and dragging him through the crowd towards the next room over, where a game of beer pong was going on. Roxas looked up, vision a bit blurry, to see who he could only guess was Axel leading him by the hand. At this point, Roxas didn't really care. Hell, he might even say he was happy to see Axel. He giggled at the thought of that.

Axel finally stopped when they'd found a less-traveled place in the house to stand freely. He down looked at the small girl before him and watched as she giggled, noticing how her blue eyes sparkled like a fucking ocean. He'd had a few beers, but not enough to keep him from thinking strait. Only enough to make him prone to distraction; and Namine, from his point of view, was one hell of a distraction.

The taller boy felt his eyes drift down and couldn't really tell you how long he was staring at her legs when he heard a sigh. His eyes found their way back to Roxas' face, and 'she' was staring at him, a drunken smile smeared across her face.

"Axel?" the petite 'girl' asked.

Axel blinked, "Yes?"

Roxas leaned back on the balls of his feet, rocked forward and breathed into his ear, "You have really pretty eyes, did you know that?"

Axel blinked again. If it hadn't occurred to him before, he got it now. This chick was smashed. Seriously. "How much have you had to drink?" he asked her, carefully.

Roxas rolled his eyes upward as he thought. At first, he seemed to be using his fingers to count, but after some time Axel realized the fingers were random and had nothing to do with counting at all. Roxas eventually lulled his head forward and answered, "4 cups in the kitchen with Larxene, 6 playing beer pong, another two after beer pong before dancing."

Axel's eyes widened, impressed, as he chuckled, "Holy shit! I would've pinned you as a lightweight, but apparently not."

Roxas seemed to have spaced out, but eventually wrinkled his nose and made a confused expression, "I don't know where Larxene went. I was dancing. When did I stop dancing?"

Axel face palmed. Lightweight or not, she was pretty plastered. He tried offering her an explanation, "I ran into Larxene about five minutes ago out on the deck, she told me you'd gone to play some pong last she saw, so I went past the tables when you weren't there and found you dancing."

Roxas squinted, eyes a bit foggy from the booze, "Do you want to dance with me?" he asked, simply.

The redhead hadn't really thought about that. He grinned at the question, taking her hand once more, and replying, "Great idea!"

They swam back into the living room through a sea of people. Axel saw Sora across the crowd, trashed and getting very frisky with an entranced Riku. He smirked at the sight. They were so perfect for each other that sometimes it was creepy, but he could appreciate the cuteness of the moment.

Axel turned back to the girl before him to find her reaching up and wrapping her arms around his neck, grabbing fistfuls of hair, digging her pelvis into his groin and beginning to knead her body into his with the song. He felt his eyes grow dark with anticipation. His reply started gently, slowly running his hands down her back; tracing her narrow waist and hips along the way, feeling past the curve of her ass, groping for a reaction as his hips pushed and pulled with the rhythm.

Roxas had stopped thinking. He'd lost his sense of reality; acting on pure whim and driven by immediate gratification. Shortly after the second song began, Roxas had begun to let his own hands explore, also looking to draw reactions from Axel. Rather than light and sensual, his hands were grabby as he explored the curve of the taller boy's back, the lean muscle on his shoulders and arms, the subtle but strong core of his torso, and firm chest.

Axel felt his breath grow ragged as the music went on. His lids were half closed, and he couldn't help but growl throatily when the occasional moan or whimper escaped the girl that who's body was melting into his.

The small blond felt warm, even hot, and better than he had in years; but amidst the suffocating pleasure of acting from sheer lust, he made the mistake of looking up. Axel's eyes were dizzyingly green, and the hungry look in them pulled him deeper and deeper until he was getting lost in pools of emerald.

Neither of them was sure exactly when they'd stopped dancing, but it wasn't until they'd been standing in the middle of the dance floor, staring at each other for several long seconds, that Axel looked up and around, as if waking up from a trance. Roxas leaned against him hopelessly and whined at the lack of attention.

Suddenly, the two were jolted, and Roxas would have fallen backwards if Axel's arm hadn't been around his waist to pull him back up. Some people turned to look, and Roxas too tried to peer around the taller boy and see what happened. A girl, one Roxas recognized from school, but was too drunk to remember the name of, had spilled some fruity drink all over the back of Axel's shirt.

"I'm so sorry!" she wailed, using the napkin she had with her to try and blot some of the excess up.

Axel grinned kindly and waved his hand, "Don't worry, it's no problem at all." The girl looked unsure, but after some coaxing Axel convinced her that he wasn't mad, and that he'd have no problem taking care of it himself.

The girl gone, and everyone else back to what they'd been doing, the redhead turned to Roxas and explained, "I'm soaked. I'd ask you to wait here for me to go borrow a shirt from Riku, but I don't want you to get taken advantage of by any of the other deuchbags here, so you're going to have to come with me."

Roxas nodded numbly, not really understanding what Axel was trying to say. Rather than grabbing his hand, Axel simply wrapped an arm around him and half-carried him up a staircase between the living room and the kitchen.

Along the way, they passed countless couples in various stages of indecency, Kairi and Paine surely amongst them, all which were sucking face too intensely to breathe properly or practically having sex standing up; but Roxas didn't really see them. He was busy being consumed with fascination for the glowing warmth he felt radiating off of Axel. The taller boy, very and not unlike Larxene, but undeniably toned, felt like the sun to Roxas, and he wished at that moment that he could lay in a pool of Axel and soak it in.

After walking halfway down the hallway and turning left at a three way intersection of corridors, Axel stopped in front of a door. He fished a key from his pocket with one hand, fitting it in the knob and turning, giving a light shove to free the door, and led the two of them into Riku's room.

Roxas had been placed on the bed, so he watched. Axel turned away from him to face the closet, fingering the hem of his fitted t-shirt, then lifting it with his arms up and over his head. And so, Roxas thoroughly enjoyed watching the redhead's naked back, from the muscles creeping beneath his skin, to the dimples just above the hem of his jeans, until it was finally hidden from him by the replacement shirt. He frowned his disapproval.

Axel turned to the girl on the bed, and laughed at the look he received. "You know, you punched me only a few days ago for trying to find out your name. I was beginning to think you didn't like me much," he kidded.

Roxas shook his head, sputtering slightly when wig hairs flew into his mouth, "I don't like you," he eventually managed to get out.

It was Axel's turn to frown. He closed the few feet between him and the blond on the bed easily with two long strides, and leaned over her.

Roxas fell back onto the bed, and Axel leaned over him, looking down at his face, brows furrowed in frustrated attraction. The blonde simply lifted his chin defiantly, playfully goading the redhead to take what he wanted, because Roxas sure as hell wasn't going to just give it to him. Then he waited, unfazed by the closeness.

Axel started to close the gap, but froze just before touching the girl beneath him. Her blue eyes stared back at him with raw indifference, as if even though she'd said she didn't like him, she'd let him do whatever he wanted.

He was startled from his thoughts when the girl groaned with impatience and bucked her hips, rubbing a narrow leg against Axel's groin. Fully alarmed, he flew off the bed, taking a step back as he did so. The small blonde looked confused, and he shook his head grimly, "I can't do this. You're drunk. You don't know what you're doing."

The smaller boy twisted his body so he could see Axel better, but didn't sit up. Later he'd be thankful that Axel's height and his narrow hips could keep the other boy from seeing strait up the skirt. "You're drunk too," he slurred softly, eye lids feeling heavy.

Axel smiled tenderly, then turned and took a step for the door. If he stayed much longer, he wouldn't be able to control himself, and beer combined with natural instinct would take over. Despite his record, he didn't want to take advantage of Namine. Just the thought of that made him feel strangely dirty. As his hand reached for the doorknob, the younger girl called out franticly, "Wait! Don't go!"

The tall boy turned to see his infatuation sit up and carefully push herself off the bed, wobbling as she tried to stand, only to lose her balance with the first step and collapse.

Roxas yelped and squeezed his eyes shut, waiting to feel himself hit the floor, but he never did. Cautiously, he opened his eyes to see that Axel was holding him up, resulting in a repetition of his previous mistake; Meeting Axel's worried gaze with a bewildered one of his own.

He was drowning, once again, in those oceans of fiery green. Axel's eyes were wide with concern, only slightly hazy from the beer. Studying the alluring curves and masculine lines of his rescuer's face, Roxas felt like he was falling down endlessly, so he grasped for something to hold onto. He reached up with one arm and pushed himself forward with the other, letting his eyes flutter shut as he gently pressed his lips to Axel's, hand gently resting on the other boy's cheek.

Then, everything went black. He couldn't remember anything after that. Axel had opened his eyes when he felt the girl slump in his arms, and laughed foolishly at himself when he realized she had blacked out.

He'd laid Roxas' unconscious body on Riku's bed, and left to go tell Larxene. She went without hesitation to help collect her roommate up, but couldn't carry him by herself, so Axel had offered to carry 'Namine' back to the dormitory. He could have driven, but it he was drunk and it was only a few blocks away; besides, he reasoned, he could use the opportunity to catch up with his old friend.

After tucking Roxas into his bunk, and thanking Axel for the help, Larxene watched as the taller boy turned and said one last thing to her before leaving, "Larxene, hear these words and know that I'm not lying: That girl," he pointed towards the top bunk, "won't be mine right now. But I swear on everything there is to swear on, I'm going to be hers and show her why she belongs with me, even if it kills me."

***0* Mission Accomplished. THATS IT, END OF FANFIC. Lol, NAWT. Haha. I got you, didn't I? R&R for Drunk Roxas=Win stickers.**

**Random Blurb about this chapter: **

** This chapter was a lot more personal than most though, because I was heavily relying on several memories, more so than usual, to help me try and make the interaction between Axel and Roxas seem realistically intense, without having one of those 'I saw him enter the room, and he was the most beautifully gorgeous creature I'd ever laid my eyes on' bullcrap. TWOO WUBBS, in reality, is messy; it takes time and work to hammer out all the bumps and jagged pieces.**

** If you read the original fic before I started revising it, you'll recall that this scene used to be relatively simple: the girls had a sleepover, Axel had sent Roxas a final note, telling him to be ready to get picked up that evening and that he wouldn't take no for an answer this time. The girls forgot about the date and begin to party, so Axel shows up to pick up 'Namine' and Roxas, drunk and judgement-impaired, kisses Axel in the doorway of their dorm. **

**I wrote it... about a year ago? Maybe a little more? Anyway, a few months before this summer I decided to re-write this fic from the beginning. Over the summer however, I did indeed go to a party, have a bit too much to drink, and fooled around with a boy that I've been... not _in love_ with, but insanely attracted to to say the least, for the better part of 6 years. Unfortunately, we actually pretend to hate each other in real life, before and after the party. we almost never talk unless he needs a to borrow a pencil in jazz band/tell me how horribly I suck at life, or I feel like bitching at him for being an all around asshole. But hey, it keeps life interesting.**

** Point being, the situation I tried to gear it toward was very different to mine, yet similar in the sense that alcohol could create a security blanket broad enough to have Roxas only feeling the good parts, and feeling the good parts twice as strongly as he would sober. His momentary indifference to what Axel does to him is because it doesn't matter that it's Axel, it just matters that there's an attraction, and that he'd decided to spend the evening following his gut and ignoring the potential consequences.**

**This being said, I was seriously considering re-writing this chapter from scratch and going back to the simpler, safer, cuter version of "Roxas goes gaga for Axel in his drunken stupor and kisses him unexpectedly!" Not that there's anything wrong with that version (if there had been, it wouldn't be an option in the first place :D) but I ended up going with the much longer, much more emotionally vested chapter in hopes that it wouldn't completely clash with the mood of the story until now. So, tell me your thoughts if you wish. If too many people comment and go "I hate this, make it DAI D !" then I'll probably end up just re-writing it and replacing the chapter, but hopefully that isn't the case _'**

**Moral of the story: UNDERAGE DRINKING, ALCOHOL, BOYS, AND PARTIES ARE BAAAAAAAD. So stay away from all of them. At all times. For the rest of your life.**

**(or at least don't get caught ;D)**

**~~Until next time~~~**


	8. He said yes?

**WHOO! So I've stayed home from school for the past two days, and guess what I've accomplished? Torrenting Fallout New Vegas and the Gladiator soundtrack *soundtrack whore Hans Zimmer=My Waifu x3*, watching Princess and the Frog and Tangled *tangled is better by far*, and this lovely work below ;D. Its kinda funny, because any glimmer of a wannabe-wishful-thinking-diet I might have been on goes out the window whenever I stay home sick (probably because I can't do anything all day so I get bored and wander to the kitchen to find brownies and mashed potatoes 8D). Anyway, its been decided that I'm actually a house gnome, and I go around eating our supplies of mashed potatoes and brownies until there are none left. See? I just ate one now! 8{D haha! Anywho enjoy the chappy. It was marvelous to write!**

**And before I forget, Thanks again to all of you who continue to review! I appreciate it so much XD**

The day after the party had been miserable to say the least. Nearly everyone on Roxas' floor in the upper-classmen dorm had gone, and almost all had woken up with massive hangovers. Even Kairi, who Roxas considered the least likely person he knew to capacitate silence, would gladly tear to pieces anyone who so much as made the floorboards creak. The exceptions, and he loathed them so, were Paine and Larxene, neither of which had had enough to drink to warrant the gnarly hangover that seemed to be going around.

For some reason that was far beyond Roxas' ability to guess, Larxene had roped Paine into convincing the other girls to get over their hangovers ASAP. Roxas really just wanted to sleep it off, but Larxene simply _insisted_ that a trip to Starbucks would have him going full speed again in no time. Rikku and Yuna seemed mildly treated by the coffee, both becoming cheery and happily conversing by the time they'd finished their drinks. Roxas and Kairi weren't so lucky, and had begun to plot the demise of Paine and Larxene as they slowly followed the rest of the girls back to the dorm.

Upon returning to the safety of his bed, ready to shut out the rest of the world and sleep off his drunken stupor, Larxene began to prod him for information about the party; "How was it? Did you have fun? How was Axel? What did you do with Axel?" Roxas could not be bothered to think about the party. Remembering made his head hurt. Axel made his head hurt. Both of these combined with the worst hangover of his life made him throw his pillow at Larxene, roll over in bed, and force himself to slip into unconsciousness until Sunday.

Needless to say, with all the excitement of the weekend, Roxas and Larxene were scrambling to finish all of their homework for Monday, and any questions about the party could wait.

It wasn't until lunch on Wednesday, they'd decided to spend it out at a local café, that all recollection of Riku's party came crashing down onto Roxas.

It happened like this:

Rikku, scone half-stuffed into her mouth, turned to Roxas and scrunched up her face, "By the way, Namine, did you see Axel at the party? He sounded really into you last I heard, but it's already Wednesday and he hasn't followed up on last week's troublemaking. That doesn't sound like him."

Roxas froze. That was it. That was the only trigger he needed for the memories to come flooding back like an uncontrollable disaster. The dancing, watching him change, the _feel_ of Axel on top of him, and… that kiss.

The other girls gradually put the stopper on their conversations to look at the small blonde girl who'd visibly paled at mention of Axel and the party. Kairi frowned suspiciously, and Rikku reached out to make sure she didn't have a fever. Larxene smirked and teased, "Something happened with Axel, right Namine?"

Roxas was choking on air as he squeezed out, weakly, "I kissed him."

If anyone hadn't been paying attention when he said those three words, they'd all come to full stops and turned their metaphorical spotlights towards Roxas. Kairi blanched, shuddering as she confirmed, "Y-You kissed Axel? YOU kissed MY BROTHER?"

Larxene frowned slightly, "Are you sure it wasn't the other way around? You were pretty wasted, so I'd be more inclined to believe that he was the one who…"

Roxas shook his head violently and interrupted, laughing painfully, "No, no. I definitely kissed him." He raised his hands to his head, looking faintly hysterical as he clutched his wig, "Oh my god. I kissed Axel. WHAT THE FUCK?"

Kairi looked like she'd be sick, Paine was discreetly smirking, and Larxene's eyes were wide with genuine surprise. That was probably the first time anyone had heard 'Namine' drop the F-bomb.

**BZZZ**- Roxas jumped and looked down, pulling his phone from the front pocket in his bag. He looked at the screen on the front and groaned audibly when he saw 'Roxas' on the caller ID (he'd changed the contact name after Larxene's recommendation a few weeks prior).

"Excuse me," he mumbled quietly, not looking to see anyone's reaction as he briskly walked out the front door and around the corner. Once out of sight, he flipped his phone open and hit the talk button, pressing it to his ear as he moaned, "Do you REALLY need to talk to me right now? It's sort of a bad time Nami-"

"ROXAS. Do you remember Reno?" she interrupted. Roxas blinked, his mind already turning over the name to see if he did remember 'Reno.'

"Umm, wasn't he the guy you'd met in France? Some redhead?" Listening to his sister and automatically doing what she said had become a habit for Roxas; not that he minded, it was a welcome distraction from the Axel problem.

Namine nodded happily somewhere in France, realized he couldn't see it, and squealed, "Oh, I wasn't sure you were even listening back then, but yes. Guess what? He asked me out!"

Roxas blinked again. Was that it? _Really!_

"Oh Roxas, you'd love him! He's such a gentleman! So smooth and romantic. We've actually been dating for a little over a week and he takes me out almost every day to these amazing places. Art museums, historic buildings, amazing local restaurants and…"

"Dammit, Nam!" Roxas cut her off, pinching the bridge of his nose. This situation seemed awfully familiar, and he was finding the repetition slightly aggravating. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself before continuing, pleadingly asking, "Can we PLEASE talk about this tonight? Send me an e-mail or something, because I care, honest, you just REALLY caught me at a bad time. AGAIN."

Namine was quiet for a few beats before saying, "Roxas, I think I'm in love with this guy."

That got his attention. Roxas' eyes shot wide open and he sputtered, "Y-you WHAT? No way! I'm not allowing you to be in love with a random guy you met in France two weeks ago _at best_!" He'd listened to his sister ramble about boys countless times, rarely adding his two cents about whatever guy she'd become infatuated with for the week, but never, NEVER, had he heard her describe her feelings for them as love. This was bad; from a brother's point of view, at least.

Namine giggled, "Oh Roxas, you're such a good brother. I love you! And don't worry, I won't do anything dumb. Even though I'm pretty sure he's head over heels for me too; I mean really, he buys me whatever I want and does whatever I ask him too. I'm going to give it time to make sure, but it feels so real! It's like every moment with him is a time I can let go completely and know he won't judge me for acting carelessly on gut-driven desires; even if there were consequences, I'm not sure I'd care!"

Roxas was quiet. Her description of the 'love' she felt sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite place it. He sighed, knowing full well that she wouldn't listen to his advice about Reno a day sooner than he'd listen to her advice on Axel; which would only occur in very, very desperate situations. Smiling to himself, he replied, "Well, if that's how you feel, I'm happy for you. Good luck, Nami."

She was quiet for a moment, and Roxas imagined her thoughtfully spinning the cord of their old home phone around her finger like she used to. "Did something happen Roxas? You sound… different."

Roxas, once again, cursed the god that had invented twins, knowing full well that being born a twin had nothing to do with their close bond. Unfortunately for him, the same closeness that had him feeling guilty when his sister couldn't go to her dream school also enabled her to sense discrepancies in Roxas from one moment to the next. He could only hope it worked both ways, and would someday prove useful to him. Probably not.

Namine's brother assured her that nothing had happened and everything was perfectly fine before promising to call her more often and hanging up. It wasn't that Roxas thought she'd be upset over the whole Axel fiasco so much as he thought it would be awkward to explain; having a guy chase after him, thinking he was Namine, and then kissing this guy while pretending to be her. So long as he planned to reject Axel with unmoving resolve, there should be no need to mention the ordeal to his sister. The problem, which Roxas pointedly ignored until he walked back into the café, was that his resolve was wavering; kissing Axel had proven that.

When he went back into the café, everyone simply watched him. Roxas awkwardly shuffled back to his seat and began to sip on the coke he'd ordered. Rikku looked up innocently and asked, "So… you have the hots for Axel, do ya?"

Roxas glared at Rikku, mumbling through his straw, "like hell."

Kairi smirked menacingly, "There's a perfectly wonderful explanation for this," Roxas looked up curiously, hoping she had the answer that he didn't, "She was drunk, he was there, and it happened! The real question is what happened _after _you kissed him?" Her eyes were narrowed and piercing as she finished her question. Roxas sipped his coke, wide-eyed and sinless.

When he'd emptied his glass, and thus his excuse to not reply, he answered quietly, "I don't remember."

Kairi frowned, "Bullshit. Everyone remembers, sometimes they just don't want to. Now, did you have sex with my brother? I'd feel sorry for you if you did."

Everyone watched as he thought and groaned, "Seriously, I don't remember. The last thing I saw was his face before everything went black, and I woke up in my room with an awful hangover." Suddenly Roxas looked up, searching the table for something he'd just realized was missing, "Wait a second, how did I get back to my room?"

Larxene grinned, "Axel carried you back to the room for me. Don't worry, he came and got me before any sex could happen."

Everyone collectively stared at Larxene. "Why didn't you just say that ten minutes ago?" Roxas shrieked.

The taller girl's eyes sparkled as she pouted, mockingly, "But Nam, I tried to tell you, and you just wanted to sleep. Hangovers or not, you should listen when your roommates and upperclassmen are trying to tell you something."

Roxas flailed, "That was, like, four days ago! Why didn't you tell me Monday? Or Tuesday? Or earlier today?"

Yuna and Rikku watched, silently amused, but Kairi deadpanned, "Spill, Lar, what are you hiding?"

Larxene squirmed with exaggerated excitement as she exclaimed, "Oh, Namine, you _have_ to date him now! We got back to the dorm and he waited by the door while I tucked you in, but before he left he said that you wouldn't have him right now, but he was going to be yours until you saw that he really does like you, past your fantastic body!"

Roxas twitched, both for the condescending tone Larxene was forcing, and the jab at his fake girl body. Had he actually been a girl, the meaning behind her words would have been much different, so it was theoretically a good show, but he was still annoyed at her for playing games.

"Bull Fucking Shit," Kairi spat, flatly. There was a moment of tense silence before she abruptly began to giggle, if humorlessly, and the other girls eyed her carefully. "You've got to be joking. There's no way someone in my family is capable of saying something like that!"

Larxene's eyes gleamed, her faux-excitement gone, but genuine giddiness (at least giddiness as far as Larxene was capable of) present nonetheless. "I believe his exact words were, 'That girl won't be mine right now. But I swear on everything there is to swear on, I'm going to be hers and show her why she belongs with me, even if it kills me'. See? I told you he's serious."

Kairi's eyes widened and she looked frantically between Larxene and Roxas before finally settling on the smaller roommate, her face softening from her usually rigid façade. "I'm going ahead. I'll see you guys in math," she placed her share of the bill on the table and left. Paine wordlessly did the same, following Kairi out the door only steps behind.

Rikku looked up to Roxas, curiously, "So what are you going to do now?"

Roxas was watching the door where Kairi had left, vaguely irritated at how fast all of this was moving. He massaged his temples and squeezed his eyes shut for a moment, wondering how Axel could possibly be serious about him if he didn't even know his real gender, and he'd only JUST learned Roxas' 'name'? It was offensive to know that the moment he told Axel he was actually a boy, all of the 'feelings' he had would go out the window and very readily be replaced with disgust and fear.

"I don't know," he answered, quietly, and that was the truth. Larxene gave him a worried look, but he simply stood, placing his money on the table, and left the café without looking back.

The rest of Wednesday, and the rest of that week, had not gone so well. Much to Roxas' displeasure, Larxene had taken it upon herself to program Axel's number into his phone; but as much as he wanted to, he couldn't simply delete it. During class, between classes, during lunch, in his room, wherever he went Roxas found himself opening his phone, scrolling down to Axel's name, sometimes even going as far as to create a new text message… but he never knew what to say. Before long he'd get fed up with staring dumbly at the little screen on his phone and flip it shut, resenting the fact that he'd only pull it out and do the same thing again, given some time.

And then came Saturday. What seemed to be a practical joke from Larxene was beginning to infest even the furthest depths of Roxas' brain. Why hadn't Axel sent any more letters? Why wasn't he showing up in any of Roxas' classes? Roxas had even left the dorm a bit late on Friday in hopes of seeing Axel's car, to no avail. But most of all, he couldn't fathom why it was bothering him so much.

Roxas sat on his bunk, hugging his pillow and casually flipping his phone; open, shut, open, shut. Stupid? Very. Calming? Not in the least. Larxene returned from her trip to the mall in the late afternoon; she'd promised Selphie earlier in the week to take her shopping. She dropped her armfuls of bags on the floor with a satisfied sigh, the door slamming behind her, and looked up to see Roxas' pitiful state. She frowned.

"Roxas?" she asked, clearly not amused.

Roxas didn't look at her as he called down, "What?" _Open, shut, open, shut._

Larxene clicked her tongue and demanded flatly, "Either call him, or put your damn phone away."

_Open… shut._ Roxas sat up and looked at her, apparently woken up from whatever trance-like state he'd been in. Larxene had her arms crossed and was tapping her foot impatiently.

Roxas set his phone on his pillow and climbed down from his bunk, bare feet making soft padding sounds on the wooden ladder. Larxene waited silently. When Roxas reached the floor, he turned to Larxene, a strange look in his eye. Larxene's impatience faltered but she stood her ground, a question growing on her face.

The small boy began to step forward, fingering the hem of his over-sized t-shirt before abruptly lifting it over his head and discarding it. Larxene took a step backwards and stuttered, "Umm, Roxas? What the hell are you doing? Roxas?" her voice grew strained with confusion as her eyes, betraying her frantic mind, eyed Roxas' shirtless body. He was skinny, but not bony. She could appreciate, from a girl's perspective, the serious loss that females experienced the day Roxas realized he liked boys. As she backed into the door with a thud, her eyes wandered over his square jaw, thin but muscled arms, narrow but toned torso, and finally she noticed just how _low_ the hem of the sweatpants he wore was riding. It wasn't sexual, she would have told you, merely wondrously appreciative of Roxas' damn good body, which would water the mouths of nearly all the other girls in their dorm; hell, in their school!

From his roommate's perspective, and best friend unless stated otherwise, Larxene was more than a little freaked out. Who was this and what the FUCK had they done to Roxas? "Roxas, 'the fuck are you doing?" she verbalized as he closed the gap between them, leaning against her and pressing a firm hand against the door so she couldn't escape.

Suddenly, she narrowed her eyes in suspicion, "Have you been drinking?"

Roxas hesitated before placing his free arm behind her neck and reaching up to whisper into her ear, "If you're freaked out now, imagine how Axel's going to feel when he's in your shoes."

Larxene guffawed and shoved Roxas off of her, "Jesus, you scared me! But honestly, is that what you've been worrying about all week? Fuck, Roxas, you didn't have to go that far!"

Roxas gave her a flat look, and she sighed, "Point taken, okay? But who said it has to get to that far?"

Roxas was putting his shirt back on as he mumbled, "Doesn't matter, it always gets that far sooner or later."

Larxene frowned, moving to put her bags somewhere more convenient than the middle of the room, "And what, pray tell, do you mean by that?"

Roxas, fully clothed, walked over and started to help her put the new clothes on hangers and into her half of the closet. "Before I'd really accepted that I like boys, and how that's never going to change, I went through a bit of a… phase, I guess." Larxene curiously glanced at him, but Roxas didn't make eye contact as he continued, "I'd been asked out by more girls at my old school than I can count on two hands, all of which I'd politely declined until one day, I decided I can't say I'm gay until I know I've give girls a shot. So I dated a few, and sooner or later I realized that that was all it would ever be. I wasn't attracted to girls… but then one of my best friends, Olette, started to like me. I told her I was gay, and she said that was fine, and we could just hang out as friends. But she'd push. More and more, she'd always say, 'it's okay if you touch me, because we're just friends' or 'kiss me, because you're my friend, and that's what I need right now.'" They'd both stopped putting clothes away, and Larxene was silently watching Roxas, waiting for him to continue.

The small boy had tears in his eyes when he looked up to Larxene, "But when she wanted sex, I told her that it'd gone too far already. She was one of my closest friends and I cared so much about her, but I'd never be able to give her what she wanted. She slapped me and walked away, just like that! I wouldn't put out, so she never talked to me again!" he didn't cry in the sense of tears rolling down his cheeks, but Larxene hugged him anyway. He was hurting, and she hadn't seen it coming; not to mention she felt somewhat responsible for opening up old wounds, so to speak.

After giving him a moment to collect himself, Larxene whispered, "You know what I call a girl who does that?"

Roxas looked up, just tall enough to put his chin on her chest comfortably without straining, "What?" he questioned.

Larxene smirked, "A bitch."

Roxas laughed, punching her softly on the arm, "You're dumb."

Larxene shrugged, "Hey, it always made Axel feel better when girls did that to him."

Roxas' face made it clear that he didn't understand the connection between what had happened with him and Olette, and Axel. Larxene hung a light blue blouse in the closet as she explained, "Everyone, myself included, gives Axel shit for sleeping around. To an extent, I guess consequences that come out of it are his own fault, but I can't help but feel bad for all the shit he has to put up with. I mean, even he draws lines somewhere. He only sleeps with girls if all they want is a one-night-stand and nothing more, but what do you think happens when some fool genuinely thinks she's in love with him?"

Roxas answered quietly, "He turns her down, because she wants more from him than he can possibly offer."

Larxene nodded, "Precisely. When he was still a bit green, he would get so miserable whenever that happened... One time he had to get stitches because a girl threw a rock at him for refusing to sleep with her. I got so mad at him for just standing there and letting it happen, but he'd simply asked me, 'what else could I do, Lar? She's right to be hurt in this situation.'"

Roxas didn't have anything to say to that. He simply grabbed another shirt from a bag and hung it up. "So you're saying Axel won't push, and as long as I don't get emotionally involved, neither will he?"

Larxene chuckled and said, "Roxas, he's already infatuated, and for him that's pretty damn emotionally involved. But _because _of that, you could very easily satisfy him with a simple, no sex relationship. I'd say go for it, and see what happens. He's not the kind of guy who'd hate you if he found out you were a boy; he might be a bit freaked out at first, but you'd find ways to tease him about it later and it would all work out in the long run. I promise."

She hadn't asked a question, so Roxas hadn't felt the need to give an answer. Instead, they finished unpacking all the clothes and Roxas put on his wig so he could take the bags out to the recycling bins while Larxene got to work on removing tags.

On his way back, Roxas saw Rikku out in the hallway, waving him towards her. "What's up?" he called, and she nearly jumped as she cheered, "Kairi got wine! Bring Larxene and come to my room tonight!"

Roxas smiled, barely, as she disappeared into the room down the hallway from his. Great; because what he needed most at that moment was a terrible hangover for the second weekend in a row.

Larxene later convinced him to go, explaining that wine doesn't usually cause hangovers, and vowing to cut him off so he wouldn't over-drink. They had fun that night, barely managing to get Roxas out of playing strip poker, laughing hysterically when Rikku was dared to do an impression of Kairi, which earned her a bruise on the arm courtesy of the redhead herself, and giggling hysterically when Roxas took a swig for 'I've never kissed a girl' while playing I Never, causing everyone else besides Larxene and Paine to stare in shock, telling her that dares don't count and further demanding to know just when a girl like her had kissed another girl.

Come Sunday no one had to suffer through any more hangovers, even if they were a bit more groggy than usual. Roxas told Larxene that he'd go talk to Axel in person on Monday after school, and Larxene had pointed out that if they ended up planning a date he'd probably end up having to wait all week to actually go on it. So Roxas decided Thursday; Thursday would be the day he'd go to see Axel.

Xxx

Roxas paced in front of the gates to Hollow Bastion P.S. 19. It was Axel's school, he'd gotten directions there from Kairi, and he'd waited all week to get this over with. The blond nervously brushed his palms against his skirt, trying to get rid of the clammy feeling to no avail.

Public schools, as it turned out, happened to let out thirty minutes after the academy. So here Roxas was, being eyed carefully by the local passer-byes, waiting as the seconds ticked for that damned bell to ring.

Impatiently, he groaned, stopping and pulling his phone out from his bag to check the time. One minute. One more minute until… **BRIIIIIIING**_**. **_His seemingly endless wait was finally over.

Roxas casually walked to a tree in the sidewalk, conveniently out of the way from the crowd that seeped from the gates of the school, and leaned against it. It was another five minutes before he heard someone say, "Hey Axel, isn't that the girl from the academy you were with at Riku's?"

The small blond looked, but it took him a moment to pick out Axel's face from the crowd. The speaker had been a strange guy with an eye patch and long, black hair. Next to him, and now also looking at Roxas, was a guy so big he could've been the hulk's twin; clearly he was on the opposite end of the genome from Roxas, physically speaking.

Axel looked towards Roxas with surprise. He said something offhandedly to the boys, eyes never leaving Roxas, and the two strangers nodded, briefly glancing at the small blonde before walking in the other direction.

Axel turned behind him before walking, and upon seeing Sora and Riku still there, waiting for Axel to move, he groaned, "Aren't you guys going to take off too?"

The couple looked at each other before grinning at him. Riku chimed, "Wouldn't miss this for the world, pal." The redhead groaned, but walked to the 'girl' by the tree regardless.

Roxas stiffened when Axel drew closer, and walked out from under his shade. Both stopped when they were a comfortable distance from each other, awkwardly shifting their weight and looking at anything but each other.

Axel finally sighed and offered, "So, Namine, what brings you-"

"Go out with me," Roxas cut him off, sharply. There was a moment of silence before Riku and Sora fell to pieces, cracking up at the small girl who was now apparently trying to sink her claws into Axel rather than the other way around. The small boy tilted his head, curiously, wondering what he'd done wrong? In all his experience of asking girls out, he'd come to find that saying it directly was the only way to make sure they knew what you were asking.

"What?" Axel finally questioned, flatly. Roxas looked back to him to see utter confusion twisting his face.

Roxas frowned. Honestly, was this really as hard as they were making it? "Go on a date with me. Jesus, it's not _that_ complicated!" Roxas waved his arms, exasperated, before looking up at him, pleading that he'd just give him a simple answer.

Sora took this opportunity to creep onto the astonished redhead's shoulder, commenting, "She's a keeper, Axel. I can tell," before falling down back into his laughing fit, Riku close behind, wiping tears from the corners of his eyes.

The blond glared, "You two," Sora and Riku looked up, "You're not helping," he deadpanned. They swallowed before mumbling subtle apologies and backing up to watch the scene unfold.

"Yes," answered Axel, finally. Roxas looked up at him, and the redhead was grinning stupidly. "Yes I'll go out with… wait" Axel shook his head. This wasn't how it was supposed to go.

"Wait for what? Saturday. I'll pick you up at seven," and with that, Roxas turned to leave.

Axel frowned, holding up his hands, demonstratively as he continued, "No, really, wait a sec. I've been trying to ask you out for weeks and instead of simply saying yes you come here and ask me out yourself… you're not a dominatrix are you? Because I don't do that…"

Roxas turned and laughed, "Let's just say Larxene put in a good word for you. Now, I asked you out because I wasn't sure your offer still stood, and since I asked you out that means I get to pick the date, right?"

Three boys silently gawked at the blond in front of them. When she said it like that, of course it seemed reasonable! But the sexist in each of them squirmed, "B-But…" Axel scrambled for a legitimate reason to take control of the situation, "Aha! YOU don't have a car! Do you?" he pointed a cocky finger at the girl, proud of himself for practically no reason.

Roxas frowned, "So what? We could meet there if you'd prefer it. I was planning on taking the bus; it saves money." And just like that 'she' had deflated Axel's ego.

The redhead rubbed his temples in frustration, why was this so difficult? "Okay, look; I'm the guy, so shouldn't I be the one picking you up and choosing the date or whatever? Not the other way around? I mean, come on! It's the _first date_! We only get one of these, and it's _my job _not to get dumped by you, right?"

Roxas seemed to consider this for a moment before putting his hand out and stating, "Deal." Axel grinned and shook her hand, waving as she set off to go back to her dorm. When he turned to Riku and Sora, they stared at him with shock dripping from their faces. Riku spoke first, "Dude, what just happened?"

Axel chuckled, slapping a friendly hand on Riku's back before answering, "I just got a date with the girl of my dreams, that's what happened!"

Riku frowned, "Umm, Axel?"

Axel had begun to whistle, but paused to reply, "What, Riku?"

Riku smirked maliciously, "How are you going to make date plans when you don't have her number?"

They had been walking, but stopped abruptly as Axel realized the magnitude of his dilemma. After a moment of thought he turned, deciding to chase after Namine and get her number at all costs! But before he could step his phone buzzed in his pocket. The redhead tugged the cell out of his pocket and flipped it open; **1 new message**.

He opened the message and it read:

"**Axel, this is Namine. You now have my number. Don't come running after me to get it, or I will hurt you. Don't abuse having my number either, because I won't hesitate to block it if I get annoyed. See you Saturday.**"

Riku and Sora laughed as Axel quickly added the number to his contacts and snapped the phone shut, slipping it back into his pocket. "Shut up," he muttered as they started their walk home.

Later that night, Sora was visiting Riku's house to do homework, and he asked why he never got to pick the dates they went on. Riku had simply replied that Sora was the girl in the relationship, but if he really loved Riku he'd let him keep buying him sea salt ice cream and not worry about it. Sora simply said 'okay' and went back to his homework, cheerily. If only Axel's relationship was that simple.

**Hurp derp, there ya go! And now, I'm off to shoot some post-apocalypse monsters in new vegas XD Wish me luck! R&R! Oh, Oh, Gimme predictions on what you think is gonna happen *I've actually had the ENTIRE plot mapped out since I started the revision, so I'm curious to see where you guys think it's going, compared to where I'm 99% sure it will end up* Peace, Love, and House Gnome colds!**


	9. First Date

**Wow. It's been quite awhile since I've updated. Again. I'm sure most of you are used to my randomly spaced chapter posts by now, but I still feel bad and offer many apologies; but blame for most of it cuz they're server was being dumb :E**

** On another note, I have this Naruto fic that's been in my brain since last May; it's like an itch I can't scratch, what with refusing to write anything other than Cross My Heart until I finish it. EFF. Oh well, enjoy the chapter! I hope the wait was worth it ^_^. I adore your support and enthusiasm! Thanks, my luvs! **

**p.s. to Your Mum3: I scoured my computer and, unfortunately, couldn't find all of the original fic T_T My computer got infected awhile ago and when I got new security it wiped a bunch of "corrupted" files, so I suspect that's where they went…. Sorry!**

Axel's hands nervously drummed on his steering wheel. He was parked outside the intimidating iron gates that guarded the girl's dorms at HBGC, clunk of metal puffing and wheezing in the faded twilight. It was seven o'clock. Sharp. The waif of a boy wiped his clammy hand on his jeans and reached for one of the worn-down knobs on what once looked like a radio. The music clicked on.

"Soooooooy un perdadooooooor, I'm a loser babyyyyyyyyyy so why don'tchya kill meeeeeeeeee?"

The redhead's palm came down so hard and fast on the knob that the car quaked, and silence followed. _There's a good reason I don't listen to Beck_, he thought, perturbed. Five minutes later Roxas opened the door to the car, making Axel jump in a start, and climbed into the vehicle, drawing the door shut behind him with a loud metallic slap.

Blinking was all Axel could do for a moment. Namine looked good, he mused; she couldn't hide her cuteness by any means, but he was a tad surprised… he'd sort of expected her to, say, dress up a bit? Instead, she looked more casual than he'd ever seen her. The small blonde next to him idly twirled a strand of hair around her finger as she waited for her date to shift gears and start driving. They'd figured everything out over text; that Axel would pick her up at seven and take her on a date. The content of the date, to Namine, would be a surprise.

Anyway, 'Namine' hadn't exactly tried to gussy up before leaving. His faded jeans were slouchy, the knees blown out, a checkered belt barely securing them to his narrow hips, some raggy converse on his feet, and a tight-fitting, quarter-sleeve band shirt hugged his chest and the foreign breasts protruding from it; his signature checkered messenger bag completing the ensemble. Little did Axel know, but Roxas had been asleep ten minutes prior, and was only late coming out because Larxene insisted he wear makeup. She, of course, had to put it on him.

It took him a minute, but Axel noticed the changes in the girl's appearance when she turned to him and questioned, "Are we going on a date, or should I be worried that you've been staring at me for two minutes now?"

Axel choked, barely catching himself and transitioning into a chuckle to cover up his slip. Roxas rolled his eyes and turned back to his window as the clicks of gears shifting and a snarl as gas was fed to the engine wordlessly answered his question. He pretended not to notice, but the redhead driving him was sneaking glances. It made him smile silently, and he was, in some ways, flattered by the gesture.

Roxas knew what he looked like with the make-up on. His lashes, naturally thick and dark without assistance, were now luscious and bold. They made his eyes look startlingly cobalt. His lips were pinker than usual, and glossy. He had to fight not to lick them; the sweet taste from the lip-gloss slipped into his mouth every so often as if to tease him, but Larxene had been very direct when ordering him not to lick it off. Long story short, he looked good. The clothes he was wearing, otherwise boyish and charming, were suddenly alluring and suggestive. Well, that's what Kairi had told him; whatever it actually meant didn't really matter to the boy.

"So where are we headed?" asked the small blonde after several minutes of quiet driving.

Axel had finally relaxed his nerves and perked up at the prospect of conversation, "Well, I had a really hard time thinking of a date. A movie is too cliché, fancy dinners are out of my league, and I didn't think you'd be up to my usual pizza-and-sex date," Roxas made an exasperated sound, triggering Axel's laughter as he continued, "So I thought I'd take you somewhere I'd enjoy going any time, with anyone."

The petite boy frowned his dissatisfaction, but when he tried to press it further Axel would just grin and say, "You'll see". Well, a few minutes later he did see. They turned in front of an old brick building, and the parking lot was surprisingly full for the look of the place. It seemed to have endured many a year and taken on much ware, but other from a grey metal door on the side, there was no indication that the structure was anything other than a pile of bricks. No signs, no directions, and they couldn't see inside from where they were standing.

Roxas swallowed and hesitated as he stepped out of the car, bag strap bunched into his fist. Larxene and Kairi wouldn't let him go on a date with Axel if he was going to end up getting forced into human trafficking or drug pushing, would they?

Axel came around the front of the car and closed Roxas' door for him, grinning wider than ever, and patiently presented his hand, "This is my favorite place in the whole world. Right here in Hollow Bastion."

The shorter boy scowled at the hand and retorted, "Is it a fight club? Because after I put you on your face in the music room I didn't think you'd be up for more fighting from me."

The redhead snorted and reached out further, grabbing Roxas' hand, and led him towards the door, "You caught me off guard, and even if you can throw a hell of a punch I'm not the type of guy who will just let you give it to me a second time." Roxas smirked; enjoying Axel's bruised ego, and not even minding that they were holding hands.

When they reached the door, Axel didn't pause before turning the handle and throwing it open. Roxas did see the smile on his face, somewhat relieved that there was no legitimate animosity between them over the aforementioned incident. Looking inside, Roxas was genuinely and pleasantly surprised. They were at an arcade. Not just any arcade, but one that stretched out for hundreds of square feet, offering every game imaginable and organized in rows by type of game: old school, fighters, shooters, racing games, etc… it stretched on past where the neon allowed his vision to make out.

"Well don't just stare at it, come on!" said the taller boy, resuming his task of leading Roxas by hand.

As it appeared, the place was fairly popular on Saturday nights. It was actually kind of perfect. There were loads of people in the facility, but not enough to fill all the games, so there were no lines and there was always something to do. As soon as they reached the coin for cash machine, and Axel had given him a few dollars, motioning for them to go play some joystick fighter, Roxas' eyes lit up. Axel was very pleased to notice this, glad that his date idea was going well, but the pleasantness of his feelings didn't last through the first match.

"Street Fighter 2" was their first destination. And, to put it bluntly, Roxas kicked his ass. Claiming that he'd gone easy on his date, having assumed she didn't play video games, the redhead demanded a rematch. Once again, Roxas won without difficulty, but not because Axel didn't try, which frustrated the redhead all the more. So they moved on to Tekken. Then to Guilty Gear. Then to Blazblue, Virtua Fighter, Mortal Combat, and by the time they'd made it to the end of the row of fighter games, Roxas was poking fun at Axel for losing, and he wasn't liking it. Of course, it didn't help that other guys were beginning to take notice, and started coming over to challenge Roxas to pvp matches.

"She's my date, piss off!" Axel finally erupted, faintly surprising Roxas and sending the prospectors off to brood amongst each other.

"It's okay Axel, you don't have to get mad at them," Roxas commented, calmly.

The taller boy looked down at his date and his face fell into sudden dread, "Oh, did you want to play them? I'm sorry I shouldn't have-"

"No. I don't want to play them," Roxas interrupted. Axel's mouth shut with a nearly audible click and the blonde continued, smiling kindly, "I came here with you, didn't I? That means it's going to be your ass alone that I kick for the rest of the night."

The two boys laughed and Axel challenged, "We'll see. Fighters were never really my thing; too many combos to memorize. They're a nerd's game for sure."

Roxas frowned, playfully, "Hey!"

"OOOOh! House of Dead! Let's go play that!" Axel interjected, ignoring Roxas' faux-offense. The smaller boy chuckled, hardly noticing Axel's hand once again leading him as they ran to the next game, blonde sheets of hair from his wig dancing behind him.

It was midnight and the arcade was closing by the time they finally left. Roxas and Axel had played every single game in the building, several of which multiple times. Rather than keeping track by individual wins, they scored each other based on who did the best at what kind of game. Roxas, obviously, got the point for fighting games, but Axel served him at shooters. The redhead also ended up taking the non-video games win (ski-ball, air hocky, etc…), but the smaller boy was an undisputed champ at the racing games. All in all they were tied, and each vowed to make the other cry in rematches next time as Axel swung open the door and they stepped outside.

Roxas gasped at the breeze that chilled him to the bone. Having been in a building filled with large electronics and people for several hours, he'd adjusted to the heat of indoors, and the cold night air outside had bumps rising on his arms and made him shiver.

"Here," Axel shrugged off the leather jacket he'd been wearing that night and draped it over the 'girl's' shoulders. Roxas mumbled a thank you, trying to look away so Axel wouldn't see him blush. The redhead didn't notice, and once he saw that his date wouldn't freeze to death began making his way for the car.

Roxas followed closely behind, inadvertently watching the other boy's hips swing as he walked. That sort of physique wasn't one he'd have expected to be attractive on guys, but now realized it was truly a gift. Axel was wearing jeans that looked like they were supposed to be skinny, but hung a bit loose and had some slight, unintentional sag to them. Roxas didn't mind; it was pretty hot, actually. The blond hadn't noticed earlier, but Axel's shirt was fairly tight-fitting too. It was purple, and stretched snuggly across his back and shoulders as he walked, emphasizing the lean muscles that clenched and relaxed as he moved.

Shaking his head to clear the scattered thoughts, Roxas caught up to Axel and climbed into the car once it was unlocked, franticly trying to discard the mental image he might as well have painted on the back of his eyelids. Attracted to Axel he was, fine. He could admit it, if only to himself. He'd had a great night, more fun than he'd had in months. Splendid. But he was still, well, a_ he_, so whatever kind of camaraderie or friendship to Axel he might normally have allowed to developed, he instead stomped back into the pit it came from and prayed it would never grow back.

The car started and they pulled out of the now empty parking lot, a wave of exhaustion falling over the boys, like the feeling you get after you've laughed too hard for too long. They drove back in comfortable silence, neither really having the energy to think of something to say. Roxas distantly wished that the night could keep going, but didn't spare the brainpower to follow the thought anywhere.

"Namine?" Axel broke the silence, drawing a curious glance from Roxas, his mild voice continued but he kept his eyes on the road in front of him, "Thanks for coming out with me tonight. You're really… incredible".

Roxas' heart fluttered a bit. The pre-drowsy exhaustion was washed away and he sat up a little in his seat. Blushing furiously, he looked out the window, noticing that they were only a few minutes from the school as he hesitantly replied, "I think I should thank you. You're the one who did all the work to drag me out here tonight, and I had fun," blue met green as Roxas looked up to Axel, who was looking right back, "So… Thank you, I guess," he managed to say. His voice had sounded steady enough, but he didn't feel steady. Axel nodded, but had returned his gaze to the road, and the smaller boy let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. Roxas felt something warm cross over his hand and looked down to see Axel's fingers lacing with his own. That was all it took to send his heart throbbing in his throat and make his stomach do flips, but at the same time he couldn't look away. He was entranced with the way their hands fit together, frighteningly perfect for each other.

The car came to a slow stop and Roxas looked up, seeing they were back in front of the dorms. He gently drew his hand out from Axel's and chuckled nervously, mumbling something about clammy hands as he slid his palm down the side of his jeans.

The two sat awkwardly for a few seconds before Roxas finally bit his lip and reached for his bag, motioning to open the door and get out of the car, but before he could really get anywhere an iron grip clenched around his arm. Roxas turned back, not sure what he expected to see, but didn't make out any clear images before Axel's lips crashed into his own and he felt the coolness of the glass window press up against the part of his neck that wasn't covered by Axel's jacket. His eyes fluttered shut, helplessly, and Axel was everything but gentle as one warm, strong hand clasped Roxas' face and the other explored his back, making him shiver, but not from cold.

Axel broke for breath, and Roxas looked to see a darkness in his eyes that wasn't bad, but certainly wasn't good. The smaller boy had a brief flash to the party; the dancing, the touching, and… the kiss. Roxas leaned forward this time, grabbing to pull Axel towards him, somehow managing to avoid the awkward complications cars tend to be in situations like this.

Axel climbed over the center console until his body was hovering over Roxas'. He didn't know what he was doing, and he really didn't care. Neither of them did. The redhead didn't hesitate to close the gap between them, sucking and licking and biting from either party increasingly encouraged the other. Tongues prodded each others' mouths, searching for the move that would set off sparks in the other person.

Roxas gasped as Axel leaned against him, thigh massaging his groin, and he could feel Axel's arrogant smirk through his lips. That wouldn't do. He wouldn't be outdone. Roxas parted from the kiss with Axel and lightly trailed his lips along the taller boy's jaw, moving down to the neck. Axel jerked momentarily, as if Roxas had hit a pressure point, and the blonde grinned with satisfaction as the redhead growled his approval. Wrapping his arms around Axel's narrow torso, he began kissing his neck. The pseudo-girl was pulling at the skin with his teeth, sucking on it at times, and the redhead tried and failed to cover up a moan.

Axel abruptly dug his leg in further between the blonde's, fingers lacing through the blond strands that fell around him, and Roxas' arched his back from the feeling. Colors burst behind his eyes, and he clung closer as a teasing hand ran down his hip, over his thigh, and then brushed the hem of his jeans. Roxas froze. What the hell was he doing!

Not sensing Roxas' discomfort, Axel's fingers started prying at button of his jeans, and Roxas panicked. Bucking his hips in one sharp motion Roxas knocked Axel's head into the roof of the car and rolled his weight to the side enough that he could grab his bag from the floor and throw the car door open.

Axel, eyes doubled in size from confusion, opened his mouth to tell him not to go, but Roxas was already out of the car and slamming the door back behind him as he ran through the iron gates, the line where, once crossed, he thought he'd feel safe. He didn't. So he kept running, sprinting across the grounds to the door to his building, up the stairs, and into his dorm. Even there, out of breath, leaning against the wooden door and confident that Axel hadn't followed him, he felt like a mouse that had just narrowly escaped a hawk. He felt vulnerable and scared.

And he was still wearing the bastard's jacket.

…Karma's a real bitch.

As his back slid down the painted wood of the door, slowing his way to the floor, Roxas felt a bit broken and cursed himself for it.

Gods help him, he'd fallen for Axel.

**Yay! I sincerely hope you loved this. More to come soon, more to come soon. Reviews are appreciated! Thanks again for all of your lovely, lovely support!**


	10. Some Time Around Midnight

**The strangest things inspire me to work on fanfiction. I was reading some good 'ole South Park fics, but soon got really annoyed with how immature or unsatisfying the writing in most of the ones I found was, so I decided to go back and re-watch some of my favorite episodes from the earlier seasons…. And a few hours later I'm putting up a new chapter that has NOTHING to do with South Park. I may question it, but I'm not silly enough to expect answers. BAH. Hope you enjoy, R&R plz!**

**P.S. I was too lazy to edit this, so lets just hope my grammar and whatnot don't suffer too greatly because of that. You've been warned!**

After a short time, Roxas convinced his legs to push the rest of his body into an upright position, daring to take the next few steps into the room before he could see past the out-cropping of closet wall that served as one side of a mini hallway in their dorm room.

Larxene was waiting for him, of course. An eloquent, yet knowing look on her face as she eyed him walking into the room. _'Coward'_ she seemed to silently label him. Before he could produce a coherent thought, Larxene turned away, chuckling into the phone he'd only just noticed in her hand. "Yup, it was him. He's sulking over something, but it looks like he came out of their first date unscathed."

Roxas blinked dumbly as Larxene threw a mocking wink over her shoulder. Who the hell was she talking to? About _him_ none the less?

"Sure, Namine, I'll tell him"

-Brief pause-

"Of course! Call me whenever you feel like it. You have my number now so don't hesitate to use it."

Roxas' mind reeled in what he couldn't really describe as any other emotion than dread. Larxene, his roommate and trusted holder of his secret, and Namine, his twin sister who knew virtually EVERYTHING about him (not to mention she'd talked him into cross-dressing too attend all girls academy), were obviously not a good combination for his well being. They were up to no good. Surely, if he were struck by lightning tomorrow and really did turn into a girl this phone call between his sister and his best friend would be to blame.

He couldn't really feel his face anymore by the time Larxene had finished 'good-bye-ing' and hung up her cell phone, casually slipping it into her pocket and turning to face him. He wanted to frown, but wasn't sure it would look anything short of ridiculous.

Larxene's ever-suspicious smirk was tugging at the corner of her lips yet again. She was plotting, but damn it all, he wanted to know what! So he asked a simple question, "Larxene, why were you talking to my sister?"

Larxene rolled her eyes, possibly trying to shrug off the tension in the room, and ignored his question asking, "Why are you back so late, Rox?" Her eyes were amused. He could see that much. But for the life of him, he didn't have an answer to that question.

She took an intimidating step forward, lifting the hem of the jacket Roxas was still wearing as if inspecting it, and smiled condescendingly, "Having too much fun to come home at a reasonable hour?"

Maybe it was the attention she'd drawn to Axel's jacket, but a fog seemed to lift from Roxas' brain, and he was confident that he could frown satisfactorily, not to mention shoot Larxene a heated glare, so he did as much. "Don't," warned the shorter boy, stepping out of her reach and reaching a hand over his head to pull off the wig, shaking free his crazy blonde spikes, "and I asked you first, so shoot."

The taller girl was picturesque of a model while she pouted her lips modestly and shrugged her slim shoulders, "Fine, your sister called me looking for you – you weren't answering your cell so she got worried. When I told her you had a hot date she flipped quite a big one, so I calmed her down and then… well, we talked."

Roxas had hung up his wig the bedpost it belonged and slid out of the leather jacket, tossing it meaninglessly into a corner. He cursed under his breath. He'd forgotten to tell Namine about Axel, but then again he wasn't sure he'd have to – he wouldn't have had this stayed a game. But he wasn't sure what the rules were anymore.

"Well thanks for that, I guess. But what does that mean? Are you guys all buddy-buddy now or what?" Roxas continued to undress and slip into bedclothes, occasionally darting in and out of the bathroom as Larxene talked.

"Don't worry, you're still my favorite little blonde… for now at least," Roxas scoffed from the bathroom, sending foamy toothpaste all over their mirror, "But I did learn something that I think you'll find pretty fascinating."

Roxas spat out the remaining toothpaste and started cleaning up the mess he'd made, "Yeah? What's that?"

Larxene fell onto her bed and lifted the new book she'd started reading, another French novel, replying nonchalantly, "Oh, well I guess twins are so close in everything that taste in men would come up sooner or later, but even I was pretty well floored when I found out about Reno. Did you know that Axel and Kairi's older brother is currently working in France for some big company called Shinra?"

"WHAT?" Roxas shrieked. That was freaky, this coming from a guy who wore skirts to school. He flung himself out of the bathroom to find Larxene calmly turning a page in her book. "Larxene, are you saying that the Reno my twin sister is dating is the brother of the guy I just got back from a date with?"

Larxene nodded silently, her eyes uncharacteristically blank, with no familiar glimmer of mischief. Roxas collapsed into the office chair next to him. This was a whole new level of complicated. What would happen when Reno came to meet the family? If they got married? Surely, even if he ended up dumping Axel as planned the redhead would inevitably find out that the real Namine was dating his brother, and he'd been dating _her_ twin brother? A guy? Ugh, it was too much.

Roxas groaned audibly, running a nervous hand through his chaotic shag of hair. Larxene sighed, sympathetically and rolled onto her side, using an elbow to prop herself up. "I don't know what you're thinking right now, but I've got to tell you something about Reno. Namine was a tad freaked out by all of this herself, but she came around and got to telling me how great their relationship is and whatnot… I didn't really have the heart to tell her over the phone."

Roxas looked up from his pondering, waiting expectantly for her to go on, so she did. "Reno, well," she sat up on her bed now, freeing her arms to gesture as the book waved in her hand, "I don't want to say he's a bad guy, because there's some good in him, believe me… but anyone who's known him as long as I've known not just him, but his entire family, knows that when it comes to girls he's…" she looked up for encouragement, but Roxas merely sat. This was a lot to take in, especially after what had happened just ten minutes or so ago in the car… not now, he needed to focus.

The boy gestured at his roommate to go on, and she exhaled deeply, sighing yet again, "To call him a player would be an understatement. He goes through girls like a kid goes through a pack of hubba bubba."

"Well shit. You mean he's like Axel?" Roxas drummed his fingers on the desk next to him, trying to find an out for all the stress this situation was causing him.

Larxene shook her head, "No; well maybe, but Axel used to just hook up with girls. When he was going through his dark ages, there were no illusions that if you wanted Axel you got him, but just for one night. Reno plays a more refined game though, he'll court girls, Lord knows his fatty shinra paycheck can afford it, and then once someone more interesting comes along he'll dump them like trash and cut off all ties." Larxene snapped her fingers for emphasis, and a look of horror spread on Roxas' face.

"What are we going to do, Lar? I can't just let him dump Nami like that, you've heard her talk about him like some love-sick puppy! If he dumped her tomorrow she'd be a mess, but who the hell knows how much longer this will go on before he actually cuts her off? Fuck, Lar, what do I do?"

Larxene's green eyes smiled sadly at him, and she reached out to place her free hand on his arm, gently, "There's nothing you can do, Roxas."

Roxas looked at her, bewildered, but she shook her head and continued, "I've seen girls in similar situations; hell! I've seen girls in precisely the same situation, and they won't listen to anyone. Not friends, not family - because when someone falls for someone else, and I mean _really_ falls for them, then they can't see or hear past what their heart wants them to see or hear."

The smaller blonde felt like a black whole had just opened up inside of him. Larxene was right, he knew she was right, if not about most people than most definitely about his sister, and that meant he'd just have to twiddle his thumbs, pretend to be none the wiser, and wait for her to call him sobbing.

After taking a moment to let everything she'd just told him sink in, Roxas went back into the bathroom and started to scrub all the crud off his face. He'd never really wanted to know how gross it feels after wearing make-up for 5-6 hours in a sweaty, crowded arcade but by god he'd get it off before he went to sleep that night. When he finally came out of the bathroom, Larxene was back to reading her book. He tried, to no avail, to get across the room without drawing her attention in hopes of simply calling it a night and going to sleep. A few short steps into the main room of their dorm and Larxene was folding down the corner of her page and placing it on her nightstand.

"So are you going to answer my question now? How was your date?" she asked, innocently. Roxas swallowed nervously, not believing her wide, accepting eyes.

He knew lying wouldn't do any good, so he settled for blunt truth, "Actually," he began as he took the first step on the ladder up to his bunk, "It was fantastic. I don't think I've ever had more fun on a first date."

He heard a thunk from below, probably from Larxene's head hitting the bottom of his bunk when she tried to sit up too fast, but soon she was standing next to his bunk, peering through the rungs on the guard rail. "Seriously?" she questioned, incredulously.

Roxas smirked, feeling just a tad full of himself, "Cross my heart."

Larxene stared at him dumbly for a second or two, as if trying to think of something to say to such unexpected news. "So… what did you guys do?"

Unfortunately, this was the part where Roxas recalled embarrassing things and the flush in his cheeks gave him away. Larxene reached up and, damn her long arms, tried to shake answers loose from him.

"Alright, alright!" Roxas swatted her arms away from him before continuing, not daring to look her in the eye, "We went to an arcade, which was a blast, and then… then ."

Larxene blinked, "You WHAT?"

Roxas rolled his eyes, defiantly, "I said we went to an arcade and then…"

"No, I heard you, but WHAT? Well call me a fat whore and fuck me stupid, but I can't tell whether or not that's amazing news or the worst news I've heard all night!"

Roxas paused before retorting, "Larxene, you're a fat whore, but by no means will I fuck you stupid. We've been through this, I like boys."

Larxene seemed at a loss for words for only a moment before she cackled hysterically, Roxas joining in shortly after. They laughed until tears streamed from their eyes and their ribs were sore before Larxene took a few stabilizing breaths and continued, "Well I'll be damned."

Roxas followed suit, but didn't bother responding.

Larxene looked up at her roommate and smiled, "Well you've gotta tell me, was he good?"

Roxas laid back onto his bed, the pillow a welcomed coolness on his flushed face, and sighed, "Gods yes."

The taller girl watched him for a moment before climbing under the upper bunk and settling into her own bed. They stayed quiet like that for awhile, but there was one last question itching in the back of Larxene's brain, "Rox, do you like him? As in, mushy feelings and all that crap?"

Roxas stared at the ceiling, trying to think of an answer. To say yes wouldn't be entirely true, he still barely knew the guy. But to say no… well that would be strait up lie. "I don't know," he answered, truthfully. Larxene didn't say anything else that night.

They fell asleep within minutes and the rest of the weekend passed uneventful; but in spite of how many times Roxas had to explain to each of the other girls why an arcade was a brilliant first date, or why, if Axel was as good with tongue and hands as Roxas claimed, he ran out of the car, Larxene didn't make it a point to question him further on the context of his blooming relationship with Axel. For that, he was glad. Glad that he had a roommate who believed him when he said he didn't have any answers. Glad that he could wait until at least Monday to deal with whatever those feelings may be, or become. Glad that, aside from the possible visit during gym class, he wouldn't have to see Axel at school because frankly, he wasn't sure he could deal with that yet.

**I know that was a fairly short and uneventful chapter, but that's because the next one has the potential to be a pretty long one, and to say the least SHIT WILL GO DOWN. So… yeah. At least this one gives a bit of insight/clarity on what all just happened? Maybe? If not, its important for plot-development so just deal. Haha, thanks for reading! LUV TO ALL!**


	11. The Teacher's Lounge

**New chapter? Already? Yay! I'm on a roll! haha. This one is pretty long. Now you guys will finally be able to see how I'm beginning to tie things together * mischievous laughter* Depending on how lazy I get about length of chapters, I can estimate about 5 left or so. Sad, I'm going to miss this when its done T_T for now though, ENJOY!**

At an all girls school it can be assumed that gossip travels fast amongst the students, and rumors that 'Namine' had finally found a way to wrap Axel around her middle finger were no exception to the verbal wildfire. The teachers, on the other hand, were unexpectedly accomplished gossips as well. It was lunch, but rather than heading to the cafeteria, the administrative citizens of HBGA gathered in the teachers' lounge to sip coffee and chat each other up on all things inappropriate for student ears.

"So Demyx," the young teacher looked up at Zexion, who was watching him with a mildly uninterested demure. The dirty-blonde boy felt the hair on the back of his neck bristle and his mouth run dry. If you asked him, he'd tell you he wasn't gay. Demyx did not like men. What Demyx did like, at least since staff orientation over the summer, was an English Literature teacher named Zexion.

"Um… Yes?" He encouraged, uselessly.

The sleight-haired man, fewer years than can be counted on one hand older than Demyx, absently ran a finger around the rim of his disposable cup. "You're friends with Axel, right?" he inquired. The normally monotonous drawl that he reserved for lectures held inflection and curiosity, but only barely; it was everything in moderation with Zexion. The blonde nodded silently. Zexion pressed the conversation forward, "So what's the scoop on him and the new girl?"

Demyx coughed to keep himself from choking on his coffee. It was his first year as an administrator of any kind, but in his past few weeks he'd never witnessed first hand a teacher taking interest in students' personal lives. Then again, the age gap between himself and most of the other instructors was usually plenty enough to bar him from conversations of any sort, let alone trivial ones about the drama amidst high-school girls.

"Yes, I've been hearing these rumors too," Marluxia calmly pulled up a chair between Demyx, who'd been seated on a beaten old couch, and Zexion, who stood at an adjacent counter next to the coffee pot. Demyx wasn't pleased with this. He just couldn't trust men with pink hair, let alone ones who had things for creepy science teachers. No one had outwardly accused the history teacher of having any sort of romantic feelings, let alone a relationship, with Vexen, but Demyx knew. He had no proof, but he knew.

Not missing a beat, Marluxia continued, "The girls in my classes say the redhead and Namine have been dating for two weeks. I've even heard of some betting pools on how long it will take for them to get fucking out of their systems and break up."

Demyx could feel his jaw drop. There had to be some sort of legal violation when a teacher talks about his students fucking, but hey, what's said in the lounge could stay there as far as he was concerned. The teen didn't much like where the conversation about his friend and his student was heading, but he had never given anyone an excuse to call him a prude, and he wouldn't start today. So, instead of jumping up in outrage at the vulgarity, he let his mouth hang open like a moron as Zexion sipped his coffee and casually returned his gaze from Marluxia to Demyx. Marluxia's eyes followed.

The blonde glanced back and forth between the older men in slight alarm. What did these people want from him? Well, inwardly he knew he'd probably give Zexion anything he wanted if he'd take his shirt off, but Marluxia alone wanting anything was enough to alarm him.

Demyx swallowed again and stammered, "I-um, what do you want to know exactly?" He chuckled nervously as he waited for them to begin interrogating.

Zexion answered him plainly, "Well, what do you know about their relationship?"

Demyx frowned and looked between his two colleagues, but eventually gave in to sighing and decided to just go along with it. "As you guys seem to know, Axel usually just goes on a date or two with girls before he seduces them and moves on. Most girls know this routine going into the relationship, if you can even call it that, but you get the occasional idiots who think they can 'change him' or whatever," Demyx added air quotes for emphasis.

Feeling a tad more relaxed, he went on, "If you ask me, and I'm his best friend so I would be the first one you should ask when things involve Axel, I will tell you that he's a bigger romantic than he lets on, despite his appearance similar to that of a hard-on with opposable thumbs. The thing is that ever since he got over his last real girlfriend dumping him, he's been waiting for a girl who'd say no to him before he could consider getting serious." Demyx paused. Zexion and Marluxia waited. They masked their curiosity fairly well, but Marluxia looked about ready to jump out of his chair and Zexion's finger was getting dangerously close to rubbing through the lid of his coffee cup.

The blonde smiled, sort of enjoying the attention, and continued, "You see, people always think that the guy is the user, especially if he initiates the relationship; but guys like Axel, who can get practically any girl they want, almost have a worse problem than girls do when it comes to people just liking them for their looks," Demyx shrugged, "but this is all just my theory. I've never really asked him because he'd probably hit me and tell me I'm a faggy dumbass."

Zexion smirked. Marluxia had left his chair in favor of pacing, but kept his vision glued to Demyx. The pink haired man approached the couch and sat on the arm opposite where his colleague sat before asking, "But what about now? If Axel's dating Namine just because he thinks she won't let him do her, where has that left them thus far?"

Demyx leaned forward and made an odd gesture with his hand, "Well their first date was about a week ago. From what I hear it went well until…" As Demyx trailed off, his face folded into a frown. He wasn't sure when the two had moved, but Marluxia and Zexion were now standing over him, looking down anxiously. Freaking gossip whores.

"Go. On." Marluxia demanded.

Demyx glanced up, but his eyes were on Zexion as he replied, "Well, Axel said they went to a local arcade, and she loved it, which is strange, isn't it? Even he wasn't sure why, but she's strange enough in her own way that he was willing to try something different and, sure enough, Namine was all over it!" The younger teacher ran a hand over his fo-hawk as he continued, a bewildered expression on his face, "Then he drove her to her dorm. It was nearly 12, and they were both exhausted, but he figured 'what the hell?'; I mean, if the night had gone so well, why not try to kiss her? So he did, and if his reaction was any way to tell, she kissed him the fuck back," Demyx trailed off, frowning as he paused briefly.

"He said that everything was going fantastic –fireworks and all- until his hand wandered towards the hem of her jeans. I mean, normally if he told me that was all it took to have her bolting out of the car I'd just call her a virgin and leave it at that… but he said she looked panicked, like she needed to get away from him before he did something to her, or she turned into a monster or whatever! It just all sounded sort of funky, and I honestly have no clue what to make of it."

When he looked up, the other two teachers' eyes were distant in thought. After a moment of silent contemplation between the three, Zexion seemed to have a light bulb appear over his head or something, but before Demyx could question his solution, Marluxia snapped his fingers and shouted, "Traumatized!"

The other two teachers stared at the pink-haired man in disbelief. "Excuse me?" asked Zexion, wryly.

Marluxia turned to him, waving his hands ecstatically, "She must have been raped, or maybe her step-father molested her as a child! Oh, that would explain it! Poor girl, she was just starting to feel like she could love again when a simple touch had all those horrific memories tumbling down upon her!" Demyx wasn't sure whether to be impressed, offended, or simply shocked at this conclusion. Marluxia raised a finger to wipe a non-existent tear from his eye in feign sympathy. Drama queen.

When he looked to his other senior, Zexion seemed to share his confusion and utterly dismissed this idea. Even if that is what happened with Namine, there is a social code that's supposed to prohibit bubble-gum-haired idiots from saying it so casually! The simple lack of tact had the sleight-haired Lit. teacher wrinkling his nose in disgust.

Satisfied with their reactions, the blonde continued, "So I don't know what he's going to do next, but he'll think of a plan soon. Today's Friday, so it's been exactly one week since all that happened; I wouldn't put it past Axel to show up here sometime today with a ridiculous plan to woo the girl."

Zexion was the one to reply, "It sounds like Axel's pretty crazy for this girl. If he's found something special in her, good for him; but there's always the possibility that she's hiding something. Maybe she's using him?"

Marluxia sputtered, "Who, Namine? Have you seen that girl? She's harmless! All the girls adore her, she gets good grades, rarely skips, and is one of the few respectful students we have at this school! I've heard the stories about what some of the sluts at this school will do to boys, gold diggers and what have you, and you can always see it coming a mile away based on how they act in everyday life!"

Zexion simply shrugged and took a large swig of his coffee, refusing to engage in an argument. The three sat silently for awhile, Zexion sipping his drink and Marluxia chewing on an empty cup. Other teachers buzzed around them for the next minute or so until the bell finally rang, calling them back to their classrooms.

"Well," said Marluxia decisively, standing up and straitening his tie, "I'm off to teach. Damn the students for interrupting me from this conversation, whoever said they needed to learn? Anyways, let me know when anything changes. Aside from my gardening, I don't have much of a life outside of school, and this is so much better than television to me. Until next time!"

Demyx made a queer face and Zexion chuckled, sending shivers down the blonde's spine. "Thanks for the talk Demyx, it was nice." Demyx grinned stupidly and nodded in response.

Zexion stood to leave, but glanced back, "We should do something together sometime. You're amusing."

It took him a second before the musician could muster up, "S-Sure thing!" The other teacher left with a goodbye wave, leaving Demyx alone in the lounge with a few stragglers who had prep periods after lunch. Minutes after this exchange and he was off the couch, jumping in the air and punching his fist at nothing with excitement.

Satisfied, he put his arms behind his head and stretched out his legs in front of him as he fell into the beaten old couch, staring out the window beside him. But instead of getting lost in daydreams about his dreamy Lit. teacher, he felt all of his mushy feelings zapped away when he saw Axel's face in the window.

Nearly falling off the couch in the process, Demyx scrambled to throw open the window. "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" he shrieked. Technically speaking, he wasn't legally qualified to teach, so he had no slack to get away with things like encouraging his seemingly delinquent best friend to cut class and visit an all girls academy that he wasn't even allowed on the campus of in the first place. While on the subject, let it be known that Axel was probably best friends with Riku, but that didn't mean Demyx' sandbox love for the redhead was any less than unbreakable. Meaning, from time to time, he'd get suckered in to letting his friend do stupid shit at his expense. Lucky for him though, the other teachers that had a prep period after lunch actually had to prep for their next classes, and had left just in time to miss the commotion.

Axel winked and began to climb through the window, "Just came to say hi."

Demyx tried to look around the redhead. "Is anyone with you?" he asked, surprisingly calm considering the situation.

"Just Xigbar," Axel mumbled nonchalantly.

Demyx' eyes went wide, "You brought _Xigbar?_ Seriously, think of something more creative to do if you're trying to get me fired!"

Xigbar waved from outside and Axel turned his attention to help his friend in through the window, "Don't worry, we won't get caught."

The blonde groaned. Why couldn't he have kept the friends his mother liked? Well, his mom did like Sora, and she blushed whenever Riku said anything to her… much to his and his father's disturbance, but those two didn't count because they never did anything to get in trouble. These two, on the other hand…

"How long have you guys been out there?" Demyx rubbed his hand on his face, trying to make himself relax.

Without averting his attention from Xigbar, Axel replied, "Just long enough to hear your boyfriend ask you on a date."

Demyx jumped, "What? Zexion's not my boyfriend!"

Xigbar fell into the room with a thud; Axel turned and grinned foolishly, "No, but you want him to be!"

Demyx' face looked like Axel had kicked a puppy. Xigbar, because he is Xigbar, remained on the floor and shot confused looks up from where he'd fallen on his ass. "Wait, dudes, Demyx isn't gay. Right, man?" The blonde saw an eye patch look his way for reassurance, so he passed a glare to Axel, who shrugged.

"Apparently he is, now that he's found a teacher to his liking," replied the redhead. Demyx sputtered and fumed. He couldn't think of a logical comeback because Axel was sort of right. Xigbar just watched in mild shock. Finally the sitarist settled with a very expressive, "DIIIICK!" and continued to brood.

"Well I'll be damned," Xigbar called from the floor. Axel looked down towards Xigbar, but Demyx just stared at his feet. Xigbar smirked and looked up at Axel, "Hey, does this make us strait men an endangered species amongst friends?"

Axel chuckled, "See Demyx? This is why I bring him along; He's funny!" Axel rubbed Xigbar's head, and Xigbar cursed at him from his patch of linoleum.

Demyx looked back at them with a condescending smile, "Sure guys, laugh all you want, but Axel still hasn't really gotten anywhere with Namine." The other two stopped messing around and looked at Demyx, Axel a bit startled. The blonde continued, "Watch out Axel, if she doesn't put out you'll probably be next to catch boy fever."

Xigbar started laughing hysterically, and Axel smiled arrogantly. "Dem, tease me if it makes you feel better, but I've been in love with nothing but women since before my balls dropped. If anyone's going to come out, I can promise you it won't be me."

Demyx shrugged. He wasn't sure why he had accused Axel of gay, but it was pointless to think about it too much. So he did with the thought the same thing he had done with his impression that Namine was strange; he ignored it.

"Come on guys, I'll take you back to the music room," Demyx sighed as he turned to leave, and gestured for them to follow.

"Thanks Dem," Axel chirped, happily.

They walked down the hallways with Demyx leading the other two. They had to zigzag through hallways and Demyx made them duck below classroom windows. When they finally reached the door to the music wing, the blonde turned and stopped. "Axel, I know you aren't here just to say hello. What's up?"

Axel laughed, "Oh, so you caught me? Demyx I think you know full well why I'm here."

Demyx smirked and folded his arms over his chest, "Well why don't you share with the class then? But I'm warning you; Namine is a nice girl. I won't let you do anything illegal."

The redhead chuckled and lifted his hands, signaling surrender, "Wouldn't dream of it. What I _do_ have planned is sure to spark your interests, though. Besides, you're a significant part of it!" Before Demyx could reply, Axel patted him on the shoulder and slipped past him into the music room.

Demyx grumbled and followed, Xigbar tagging along behind, and couldn't help but feel a sense of impending doom resting on his shoulders. He just hoped that he wouldn't get fired. Or arrested.

Xxx

"Bullshit."

The other teachers turned to stare at their principle. Ms. Lockheart had always been known for her blunt outlook and short fuse, but even so, swearing in front of the students would be a big no-no at most schools.

Axel, on the other hand, grinned. "No bullshit here. I have paperwork if you want to see it." He leaned forward to hand her an intimidating stack of documents, and she tore them away from him as soon as they were in reach.

The redhead placed his hands behind his head, and leaned back in his chair with a cocky grin. The other staff members began to whisper, not liking the look on the principle's face as her eyes scanned the papers, looking for some mistake.

Among a number of teachers, Demyx wasn't present for this staff meeting. It had been called on short notice _during_ seventh period, the one period where Demyx taught, so all the teachers who were in a similar situation, and couldn't be covered for, were not accounted for.

Zexion sighed, "Surely it wouldn't be all too terrible to just accept it and let the boys do what they wish?" Ms. Lockheart graciously thanked him for his comments with a skin melting glare, but the Lit. teacher was unfazed and kept up his signature look of perpetual boredom.

"How the hell did you manage this?" shrieked Tifa. Axel's grin widened.

"Well, as it so happens, Riku's dad Sephiroth happens to be an administrator for the conference that runs this school, and all of the other related boarding academies in the next three cities. I asked him for a favor, told his dad our school didn't have a music program, and voila!" Axel made a sweeping gesture toward the papers. Tifa's eye twitched.

The woman lifted a finger and pointed at him accusingly; standing up, her eyes narrowed, " I don't know what you two punks have planned, but I'll be watching you. Don't think that just because you don't go to school here full time means I don't know you. I've seen your record, not to mention heard the rumors, and I don't like you."

Axel feigned surprise, "Really? All that from paper and gossip?"

Ms. Lockheart gave the younger boy a wicked smile, "That's all someone like me needs to tell about kids like you."

Axel rolled his eyes and stood, reaching over the table to collect his papers before he turned for the door. "I'll see you around, Tifa!" he called over his shoulder.

Tifa fumed, "Make sure that you and your friend don't do anything stupid! And don't call me Tifa, God dammit!"

Xxx

"And that's how we ended up here!" Axel announced, sounding pleased with himself. Xigbar wandered around the room, playing with various objects, trying very hard to do anything _but_ listen to Axel boast.

Demyx' face scrunched with confusion, "Wait, so you're going to be in my music class?"

Axel beamed and nodded. He was currently sitting cross-legged on a chair facing Demyx, who had chosen to sit in his own backwards.

Demyx raised a demonstrative finger, "So you two _aren't_ skipping school right now?"

Axel let out a bark of a laugh. "Of course we're skipping! Technically we aren't supposed to be in this class until Monday, but to hell with that; I couldn't wait!"

Demyx glanced at Xigbar, who was inspecting a Cello, and returned his gaze to Axel. "What about the girl?"

Axel gave him a mischievous look, "Did I ever tell you that I was in a band?"

Xxx

Roxas stood, frozen like a deer in headlights, while Axel span in the chair in Demyx' office. What was he doing in Roxas' class? Was he skipping again?

"Axel, get the fuck out of my chair!" shouted an exasperated music teacher from across the room.

"Haha, like hell-WAA!" *thump*, and so the chair righteously dumped Axel onto his ass. Demyx approached it with a grin, and raised a hand to pat the inanimate object.

"Good boy!" he schmoozed, not bothering to notice Axel flip him the bird.

"How goes it, Namine?" Roxas' head snapped towards the source that was calling him. The guy was a taller than Axel or Demyx, but just as lanky. His unusually long hair was tied back at the nape of his neck, leaving stunning silver streaks through his black hair. A scar traced its way down from an eye patch that _should_ have looked menacing, but somehow seemed normal on this… boy? Man? How old was he anyway?

The brunet let his good eye glimmer as he smirked and approached Roxas, offering a hand, "The name's Xigbar… The dudes haven't really introduced us yet, but Axel's one look away from jumping in front of a bus for you, and if that means anything than you should get that I hear the words going around. Still, it's always cool to meet in person."

Roxas blinked. That was an… interesting way to introduce himself. He reached out his own hand and shook the foreign one firmly, "Nice to meet you too, I guess."

Xigbar watched with amused interest as the 'girl' managed to tip herself off balance while trying to set her bag down against a wall. Truth be told, Roxas was frantically trying to come up with a plan to keep Axel away from him, but that was proving to quite the difficult task. Of course, the picture of Axel jumping in front of a bus for him didn't really help either.

Demyx exited his office, half-heartedly dragging Axel out by the collar of his t-shirt; he was starting to get used to this 'teaching' business - and had to do a double-take when he saw a frazzled Namine on the floor with Xigbar standing over her, inspecting her like an odd experiment.

Axel let out a yelp as he was dropped to the floor, Demyx had released him to frown at Xigbar, "Hey, didn't I tell you not to do anything illegal to my students?" Xigbar returned an innocent shrug, and Roxas shook his head, as if the motion would send all the parts of his scattered brain back into one piece. Demyx approached Namine with a concerned look on his face, discretely shooting a scowl at his friend, "Namine, you didn't take anything from him, did you? Open water bottles, Advil, boiled eggs…"

Roxas looked up in confusion, "boiled eggs?"

Demyx made an explanatory gesture with his hand, "the whites turn into a semi-permeable layer when boiled… there's been more than one incident when Xiggy here tried soaking a batch of boiled eggs in PCP and handing them out to random people… Let's just say he can be pretty ingenious when he wants to be," with the last remark the musician sent a rather sour, if amused, glare to Xigbar, who ignored it. There had been a time where Demyx had been encouraging Xigbar to take that experiment even further, thinking it was the most hilarious incident in the world short of Xigbar singeing off his eyebrow with a match and a bottle of Windex…

Roxas chuckled, "You actually soaked boiled eggs in ACID? And it _worked_?

Axel had watched silently for long enough, and made it his job to reply, "Well, high as a kyte though he may be, Xigbar here is actually pretty crafty when it comes to his sciences."

Roxas felt something twitch. He'd been trying to ignore the redhead, hoping that if he pretended the problem didn't exist, that it would go away. The way he saw things, their first date had ended horribly. Oh, yeah, he had noticed Axel come around to look for him earlier in the week –it had been a bitch evading the bastard- but remembering that night in his car was too damn close to physically re-living it, which was mentally exhausting. Larxene, for now, found it all adorably hilarious. He wasn't laughing. Point being, he'd be damned if he let that idiotic fire-crotch see him blush. *translation: Roxas felt bad, but had too much pride to apologize*

Demyx looked at Axel. Axel looked at Roxas. Roxas looked at a spot on the floor that had suddenly become extremely fascinating. Xigbar's gaze shifted between the other three.

"Uhh, Demyx? Mr. Would-be music teacher?" all gazes fell onto Yuna. Roxas felt a sigh of relief escape him as the older girl took the floor.

Demyx frowned, "Yeah?"

Yuna tapped her foot in frustration, "Why the hell are Axel and Xigbar here? Shouldn't you be calling the authorities or something?"

Axel laughed, "Actually, it turns out that our poorly-funded public school disbanded its music program a few years back. So Xig here and I took it upon ourselves to get in touch with our artistic sides and take the class here!" The brunette opened her mouth to protest but Axel silenced her by shoving the note of permission into her face.

Roxas stared up in disbelief, "So you're going to be here all year?"

Axel grinned and nodded. Roxas could've died. Life just wasn't making this easy for him.

Demyx finally looked up to notice that most of the other students were already in the classroom, watching the spectacle unfold. Being the responsible teacher he was, the musician cleared his throat and gave Axel a firm shove towards the chairs in the room. "Everyone sit down, let's get class going."

When everyone was seated, Namine next to Yuna, who was shooting heated glares to Axel across the room, Demyx sat on his elevated chair and announced, "In case you weren't listening, Axel and Xigbar will be joining our class. End of discussion. As for what we'll be doing, I took it upon myself to write up a project for you all, due at the end of the semester."

There was a collective groan from most of the students, and a few exclaimed that they couldn't play instruments or read music, but Demyx raised his hand to silence the class before explaining, "You'll all choose a partner. Try to pick someone close to your skill level, because this will be a collaborative effort. You're all going to write duets, on whatever instrument you can play, even if that means your voice or just writing lyrics. I don't care how you choose your partners, or how you split up the work, but by the end of class I expect everyone to have a partner, and tell me as much so I can make note of it."

There was a briefly chaotic moment where everyone seemed to scramble to get partners. Within seconds, girls were lining up to get their partner for the semester written down. Roxas turned to Yuna, hopeful, but she smiled sadly, "Sorry, but someone already asked me to be their partner if a project like this came up. Good luck."

Of course, the inevitable happened. Axel came and solicited himself, and Roxas mumbled a non-committal grunt, which the redhead took as a yes.

So Roxas and Axel became partners. So it goes.

**All in all this was pretty similar to what happened in the original version, but for those of you who didn't read CMH before it got revised, bet you didn't see me pulling Zemyx in, did ya? HAHAHA! R&R plz?**


	12. Unmusicality

**Yay! An update after SOOOO long! Had finals, AP testing, and crazy shit-loads of other stuff going on, but now I'm back and have a lil' somthin-somthin for all the readers! Thanks again to everyone who reviews, especially those of you who have reviewed this fic almost every chapter. It means so much to me! Hope you enjoy ;D**

**PS: THANKS TO ZERONUMBERS96 FOR CATCHING MY TYPO!**

"You really suck," Axel chuckled, earning a heated glare from Roxas.

"Shut up! I told you I don't play any instruments. I took piano lessons for a few years when I was a kid, so this is the only song I remember," the blonde had to admit, he really did suck. While other pairs were productively learning about each others' musical talents, Axel was poking fun at Roxas because he couldn't even play Heart & Soul on the keyboard without sounding like he was a polydactyl.

Axel slid next to Roxas on the bench in front of the instrument in their cramped practice room, stowing a stealthy arm behind the shorter boy's back and to the other side of the keyboard and began tapping out the notes for the left hand.

Roxas stiffened at the feeling of Axel's arm around him, but couldn't help but join in with the melody as they played the simple duet together. It still sounded like ass, but Roxas felt a little better about it.

"You know, we've already got one step of this duet thing down. Now we just have to write our own," Axel commented, mostly to himself. Roxas made a noncommittal grunt, almost feeling regret as the warmth from the taller boy followed his arm back out of his personal bubble.

"Do you play anything?" asked the blonde, not really expecting an answer.

Axel stood and stretched, sitting on the back of a chair in the cramped practice room. "Guitar. Since I was six."

Roxas frowned in disbelief, swiveling slowly in his seat to face the redhead, "Seriously? You mean you really did join this class because you wanted to play music?"

Axel cackled, "Hardly! I can play whenever I want. But you are more than a little hard to stay in touch with." He winked and Roxas blushed, if only a little. The redhead told his partner he'd be right back and left the room, returning a minute or two later with an acoustic guitar in one hand and a pick in the other.

Without a word from either, Axel sat down and started strumming out the first chords of a song. Roxas wasn't familiar with it, if it was actually a song rather than a simple chord progression, but it was sweet and warm, and the blonde felt himself closing his eyes and listening to the notes pouring from the wooden instrument.

"You're really good," mumbled the younger boy, after a time. Axel smiled to himself and slowed the strumming to a stop. Roxas opened his eyes, smiling genuinely. So the lug had an expressive side. He could learn to love that –er, of course by love he meant something completely platonic and unrelated to his heart pounding in his chest. Cliché? Indeed. But there's good reason why clichés are what they are. People love them too much not to over-use them.

Axel gestured with his arm, "You're turn."

Roxas frowned, "Excuse me?"

The redhead grinned, "Sing for me. I'll play a song you know, and you just sing along as best you can."

After some protest, Roxas gave him the name of a song he knew, and did his best to sing along. It wasn't long before Axel was laughing at his expense, _again, nearly_ crying as he doubled over. Roxas called him an idiot and the redhead had to wipe a tear from the corner of his eye, "God, you really suck. Do you sing to your mother with that voice?"

Roxas stood and slugged his partner in the arm, none too gently. Axel fell off his chair as he erupted in an entirely new fit of laughter, absently rubbing the sore spot on his arm that would surely become a bruise.

Roxas fell back onto the bench and forced a sour expression on his face while he waited for Axel to get over himself. It didn't take long. "So now what? I can't play an instrument, and I sure as hell can't sing. What do we do?" The sourness had sufficiently sweetened by the end of Roxas' question. He was honestly perplexed. How were they supposed to pass a music class when he had zero affinity for the arts? Namine could do it, no problem. Maybe he'd have to call her for advice?

Axel interrupted his thoughts with an answer, "Well, there are other options," he gestured to the corner of the music room where the auxiliary percussion instruments were stacked sloppily. Roxas was familiar with them. They'd all been present in his kindergarten class when the kids got to sing along with the teacher.

Roxas scoffed, "Yeah, I guess if we have no other choice I might be able to summon the discipline to master the triangle, or the maracas or something by the end of the semester. Great back-up plan, Axel."

Axel grinned, "There's the spririt!" he gave a hearty slap to Roxas' back, earning a grunt from the smaller teen, who smirked back. Within seconds though, Axel's eyes went wide and he sputtered, "Oh god, sorry! I totally just back-slapped you," Roxas tilted his head curiously as the older boy flustered, "Ugh, I'm sorry. It's a guy thing. I guess being in this class just made me feel like you were one of the guys… erm, not to say you look like a guy or anything but…"

The blonde stared for a few long seconds while he purposefully tuned out the words gushing from Axel's mouth. Well, he was a guy, not that Axel knew that. Once he considered the matter, he supposed he wouldn't have slapped Namine or a girlfriend on the back either. That was a total guy thing; but even so… it really wasn't as big a deal as Axel was making it out to be.

"… Well, I guess what I'm trying to say is that… I feel really relaxed when I'm around you. Like, one-of-the-guys relaxed. It's cool. No real sexual tension and all that crap. No pressure." Axel slowed his rambling to a stop and there was a moment of silence between the two teens. The redhead swallowed nervously, not really sure how 'Namine' would take his explanation. He probably sounded like a moron.

Roxas took his time before deciding to just throw Axel a bone so they could move on, "Its fine, and thanks. I have a brother, so I know what it means to be 'one of the guys', and… I guess It's nice to know you don't just think of me as an object of your sexual fantasies."

It took Axel a few seconds to let the small blonde's words sink in before a look of comprehension rose into his face and he gave a curt nod followed by a discreet smile.

The bell was muted as it rang, but the two heard it nonetheless. Roxas proceeded to pack up his things and moved to let himself out of the practice room, but thought of something before he'd managed to open the door. Today had been nice. Their first date had been very nice. This could work, in a strangely unconventional way. So Roxas turned back toward Axel, a thoughtful look in his eyes, "Meet me for Lunch on Monday. The pizza joint at the end of the street, just inside town. Bring your friends, I'll bring mine."

Axel flashed him a toothy grin, "I'll be there."

Not much happened over the weekend. There was an English test coming up on the book they were supposed to be reading, but no one had actually finished, so Roxas, Kairi, and Rikku compiled spark-notes and studied for their test.

Xxx

"WILL SOMEBODY PASS ME THE GOD-DAMNED PARMESAN?" Kairi wailed over the monstrous table. A blur of white whizzed toward her and she reached up just in time to catch the parmesan shaker before it could collide with her face. "Thank you, Cloud," she chirped, proceeding to unscrew the top and dump mounds of the white stuff onto what was once a slice of pizza.

"That shit'll make you fat some day," Axel jeered. Kairi flipped him off and resumed eating her pizza, Paine sat next to her, apathetic as per usual.

Roxas nudged Axel, who was sitting next to him, and asked, "Does cheese really make you fat? Not that I care, but there doesn't seem to be much to it."

Axel shrugged, tattoos lifting with his eyes as he smiled, "You'll get fat off anything if you eat enough of it. Except celery. Celery is the exception."

Roxas simply shook his head and turned toward Riku and Yuna who were avidly gossiping with Cloud and Xigbar towards the end of the table. Riku and Sora were across from him, Sora chattering Excitedly with Larxene. He and Riku shared a look of understanding as they proceeded to turn and eves-drop on the conversation.

"Cloud, you can't expect her to respond to your advances when you haven't cut it off with the first girl. Seriously, you can be a player or you can get the girl you want. Not both. Not if you want it to end well," Rikku's voice was bubbly but tinted with concern. She was next to Roxas in the table, but facing away from him so he did have to strain a bit to hear her over Sora, who'd started spontaneously singing.

Xigbar rolled his good eye over to the tall blonde, lazily, "Yeah man, even I know that. Dude, she's the girl of your dreams, so just scrap the other one and fucking go for it!"

Cloud ran a hand through his spikey hair, "Except for the part where she'll turn me down. I've been chasing her for a year and a half now, but she just teases me. I feel like if she really wanted what I was offering she'd just let me know. And in the mean time, I'll love the one I'm with and all that jazz."

Riku offered his two cents, "Yeah, well you forgot the key part where she's a woman. Women like to be chased, figured out, etc… It means that after all the hell they put you through, if you still want them, then you mean it. Not for a night, but for something long-term and serious."

Cloud gave Riku a skeptical look, "I thought you were gay?"

Roxas laughed at that, he couldn't help it. He knew exactly where this conversation was going so he answered for Riku, if only out of habit, "It's because he's gay that girls will assume he's emotionally sensitive and open up to him. Doesn't mean he is, but if they talk and he listens then there's a helluvalot to be learned."

The group gave him an odd look, and Roxas quickly clarified, "Uh… my brother is gay. I treat him like a girl sometimes because of it, and as a result he _gets_ women," the small blonde gestured by tapping a finger to his temple. From the moment he'd come out to Namine, she'd assumed he was some kind of living diary that she could spill her guts to, only rather than simply holding her words he'd give her advice back. It didn't always work like that, because he was still a guy whether she liked to believe it or not, but he'd learned quite a bit from the whole ordeal.

Riku nodded promptly, "Exactly as Namine said. Girls talk to gay guys. 'Nuff said."

Riku and Yuna both held looks of disappointment at the news of Roxas being gay. He'd been forced to show them pictures of himself… when he was being a guy. Honestly, it made him feel sort of dirty to hear all the things they had to say about him, that he wasn't supposed to hear. Good thing he batted for the other team, so it didn't really make a difference.

"So, back to what we were saying about Tifa and Aerith," chimed Yuna.

Roxas' eyes shot wide, "Tifa and Aerith? You mean you guys have been talking about our principal and our school nurse the whole time?"

Cloud sported a cocky grin, "I've been sleeping with Aerith for a few months, but its Tifa I'm really after. God… if only." His eyes got all dreamy and Roxas felt his jaw drop. This guy was having an affair with his teachers? The hell?

Before he had a chance to react, the pseudo girl felt his phone vibrate in his sock – there were no pockets in skirts and he couldn't feel it from his bag, but turning the ringer on was too risky. He reached down uncomfortably, barely stretching low enough to slide his phone out from its hiding place and check the front screen. _**'Call from Mom'.**_

Roxas rolled his eyes. _Perfect timing. Really._ The young teen excused himself from the table and made his way outside, flipping the phone open. Riku took the interruption as an opportunity to excuse himself as well, making for the bathroom.

Checking to make sure no one could hear him, Roxas answered his mother's pestering 'hello's'. "Hey mom, I'm here. What's up?"

His mother sounded like she was 'hmph!'-ing on the other line, to which Roxas closed his eyes and raised a hand to massage the bridge of his nose. God his mother was immature sometimes. "Is it so wrong that I just wanted to check up on my baby boy?"

Roxas mentally groaned, "I never said there was anything wrong with it,"

"Well you didn't sound very happy to hear from me," chided the woman, obviously not pleased.

The boy could have killed himself. He loved his mother, or at least he thought he might, but they didn't exactly see eye-to-eye on, well, ANYTHING. "Sorry mom, I didn't mean to. But seriously, you called during my lunch, what's going on?"

There was a pause on the other line before she finally replied, "How's school honey?"

Roxas fought back another groan, "Great, mom. I have lots of friends, it's going well. Dad's good too." He added that last bit just for good measure. Gotta keep the story strait and all.

"Oh, pish-posh about your father. I just hope he showers before you bring friends over."

The blonde chuckled, he couldn't help it at that one, "Mom, it's not like Dad is some sort of hygeno-phobic homeless person or something!"

The woman sighed, "Fine, but you do have to tell me one thing."

Roxas hesitated, "… What would that be?"

She practically squealed, "Is there a girlfriend in the picture? Are you going to bring someone home when you come back for holidays?"

The boy blanched. Ha. There was someone. But he was a he, and Roxas couldn't imagine his mother thinking too highly of Axel, even if he was a girl. "Uh, no mom. No girlfriend."

"Namine," the boy turned at his name and Riku was poking his head out the restaurant door. "Everyone's paying for their food and getting ready to leave, just thought you should know." If the blonde hadn't known better, which really he didn't, he could have sworn Riku was _leering_ at him. Not sexually, but intensly curious.

Deciding to focus on one problem at a time, Roxas nodded and turned back into the phone saying, "Listen, Mom, I've gotta go. I love you!" and hung up before she could reply. Riku was gone before he'd hung up. Rushing back inside to grab his stuff and pay before everyone else was gone, the small teen found Axel waiting by his things.

"Axel," Roxas said, dumbly, as he stood before the other boy.

Axel smirked, "Let's go, blondie. I picked up the tab for your food, so we're all ready to go when you are."

Roxas smirked, "Thanks." The redhead stood and took a step toward him. It was weird, the feeling Roxas got in his stomach when Axel looked at him like that. They felt so platonic and friendly in some situations that when the lanky boy closed the gap between them it came as a shock, and Roxas felt stunned, like he'd fallen off a cliff into a bottomless pit. He was staring, and he knew it, but Axel didn't laugh at him. He smirked satisfactorily, and bent down to place a sweet, chaste kiss on Roxas' lips. Too soon, Axel pulled away. Roxas distantly heard some "ooooh!"-s and "Awe"-'s, but couldn't really think, and didn't have to thanks to the older boy's hand wrapping around his and guiding him out of the pizza joint.

Well, that did it. Roxas had a stupid fat crush on the tall, lean boy that walked slightly ahead of him, chatting with the others. Larxene gave him a knowing look, and he did the first thing that came to mind. His face beamed and he flashed her the widest grin he could muster. Roxas could make this work. Somehow, he would, because he was starting to think Axel was worth it.

**Sorry that this is a bit on the uneventful and short side, but I kinda feel like the stuff coming up next needs to be done in one chapter, so I'm just leaving it at this for now. Either way, I threw in some fluff to give you all the warm and fuzzies :3. R&R plz? THANKS FOR READING! **


	13. Tell Him

**Hullo there, readers! This is a bit of a quickie, but I owed it to ya'll what with me not updating for so long! I've been terribly busy with University and other things, so I do hope this makes up for the long wait. PLUS I finished the other fic I've been writing simultaneously with this one, meaning less distraction and more frequent updates! Now, Enjoy ;D**

"You have to tell him, you know. As in, its unavoidable." Larxene and Kairi had taken Roxas out shopping. Riku's annual Halloween party was coming up, and they all needed costumes.

Roxas checked over his shoulder making sure Kairi was still out of ear-shot browsing the EXTRA slutty apparel, before replying, "How? Its been almost two months, Lar, its not like I can just casually say 'hey Axel, I'm a boy! Whataya say about batting for the other team?' Not only would he dump my ass but it would probably result in a huge scandal that ends with me getting kicked out of the academy."

Larxene held up a cute-and-yet-revealing 'Alice in Funderland' costume. Roxas shook his head and they both went back to browsing. "Well," Larxene answered, "How do you think its going to end when he finds out without you telling him? I'm pretty sure anger would override anything else if you guys got too intimate one night and you forgot yourself, which could _only_ end in scandal, and a big one at that."

Roxas held up a rather inaccurate Eskimo costume, which he mostly fancied because of how much it covered, and waggled his eyebrows. Larxene scoffed and rolled her eyes, the shorter blonde merely shrugged and hung it back on the rack. Kairi trotted over with her arms full of what had to be a dozen costumes chirping, "I'm going to try these on, let me know if you find anything for Namine, I want to see her in it before she buys anything." The other two nodded and she disappeared from sight.

Larxene made her way around the rack that separated them and put firm hand on Roxas' shoulder, turning him to face her. Her expression was grim, "Listen, I know I encouraged this relationship, but I thought it would be just for shits and giggles, to keep you busy and make you look normal; but its obvious you have the fattest crush on him and the world knows he's trying to please you because he likes you, meaning there's no way this is going to end that won't be messy." The two sighed simultaneously, knowing the truth in Larxene's words.

Roxas was the first to speak after a brief bout of contemplative silence. "I know. I'll tell him. I have no idea how, but I will."

Larxene narrowed her eyes and caught Roxas' gaze, "Promise?"

Roxas hesitated, but nodded curtly, "Promise."

Larxene slapped him on the back and turned to pull more perilously revealing items off the rack. "Come on, lets try these on!" she chimed with a twinkle in her eye.

Groaning, the younger student followed her to the women's changing rooms.

Xxx

"Hey Sora?" Riku asked casually as he lounged on a sofa, reading a book. Sora was playing videogames, sitting on the same sofa with his boyfriend's feet in his lap. Cursing as his character died, Sora chirped, "What, Riku?"

The silvery-haired stoic hesitated a moment, his face placid. Sora shot him a worried glance, not willing to sacrifice much more than that for fear of dying again in his game. "Is something wrong?" he asked as he plunged his sword into a nameless henchman.

Riku pursed his lips before speaking, "Do you think Axel could be gay?"

Sora's thumb slipped and his character missed the enemy it was attacking. He was dead with the next counter attack. Sora stared at the screen and chuckled. "You're serious." It wasn't a question.

Riku waited patiently for an answer to his question. Rather than re-trying the level, Sora turned his full attention to the boy attached to the feet in his lap. His book was now laying open on his chest as he stared back at Sora with pale, intelligent eyes. Sora frowned. "Axel's dating Namine. He's only ever gone for girls. By definition, he's straight as an arrow."

Riku licked his lips in frustration, "I know, but do you think he could ever become gay? Like, if there was a guy who liked him, do you think he'd ever consider it?"

Sora went from frowning to glaring. Riku suddenly felt uncomfortable. The brunette's voice was heated as he pried, "Why, do you like Axel?"

Riku gave him a perplexed look, "What? Of course not! You know better than that."

Like a switch had been thrown the other boy bounced in his seat and went back to playing his videogame, grinning, "Then who does? I'd like to see how that pans out."

Looking back into his book, Riku mumbled, "Just some junior…"

Xxx

Roxas was just climbing out of a horrendously embarrassing 'Sexy Sinorita' costume when his phone rang. Throwing on his clothes just fast enough to answer before it went to voicemail, Larxene heard him say from over the stall, "Hello? Nami? Hey, are you okay? Why are you crying then! Slow down, I can't understand you when you talk that fast _and _cry. Just pick one."

The small blonde came out of the stall in a hurry, rushing past Larxene, who followed anxiously. A few steps outside of the changing room, Roxas halted. "Reno dumped you?"

Larxene heard Roxas take in a sharp breath of air. She mentally cursed the scumbag of a brother that Axel just _had_ to have. Roxas shouldered the phone and turned to Larxene. Before he could open his mouth she nodded, "Go. She needs you." And with that Roxas left.

Once Namine had calmed to the point where Roxas could understand her, she told him what had happened was he took her out to a really expensive restaurant, invited her back to his hotel room with champagne, and before she knew it she'd slept with him. The next morning she woke up and he was gone. She asked for him at the front desk and they told her he'd checked out a few hours earlier. Roxas comforted her, and promised to send a care package with lots of chocolate and a few of the newest chick flicks he could find.

Xxx

**Two Days Before Halloween**

It was lunch, and Kairi was babbling on and on about just how slutty her costume was going to be. Everyone should be very excited, she said, because she was going to do every year thus far tenfold. It wasn't until Yuna turned and asked Roxas what he was wearing to Riku's party on Saturday that he realized he didn't have a costume.

"SHIT!" Roxas hissed, rubbing his eyes with his hand. Larxene chuckled.

"Haha, not to worry, I've got your back!"

Roxas stiffened. "Larxene…."

Larxene went on, "Don't worry, I picked you a good one. Axel will LOOOOOOVE it."

The other girls at the table giggled. Roxas moaned and looked up at Kairi, "Please, for the love of God, tell me you didn't help pick it out."

Kairi merely shrugged, the hint of a smirk tugging at the corner of her lips.

Roxas headdesked into the cafeteria table. He was doomed.

Xxx

The boys were all getting ready in Riku's room. At least, the boys that mattered. Xigbar was a surfer; i.e. board shorts and a surfboard, sans shirt. Sora was a pumpkin, and Riku was a vampire, a damn sexy one at that according to Sora. Cloud was Ken from Street Fighter. Axel was a pirate.

As Axel added some last-touch guyliner to his look, Xigbar stood abruptly, scratching his head and looking around the room. "Riku, man, where's Demyx? Shouldn't he be here?"

Cloud chuckled, "Dude, Zexion asked him to be his date to the staff party that Riku's dad throws at the local country club; how could he refuse?"

Xigbar silently 'oh'd'. Riku shifted uncomfortable for a moment before sitting on the corner of his bed. "Hey, Axel?"

Axel messed up his eyeliner, he swore bitterly before answering, "Sup, Riku?"

Riku looked at the back of his friends head for a brief moment before asking, "Would you ever date a dude?"

The room collectively fell silent from any and all chatter. Axel, frozen from applying guy-liner, turned to look at Riku, a sarcastic expression on his face. "Is that a serious question?"

Riku nodded, and Axel smirked, turning back to the mirror in front of him, "Sorry Riku, you're not my type. Besides, Sora would kill me if we ever hooked up."

The room laughed at Riku's expense, including Sora, and Riku groaned. "Axel, seriously. Say you met someone, really liked them as a person, and then they told you they were gay and liked you as more than a friend. What would you do?"

Axel didn't turn this time, but rather eyed his friend suspiciously in the mirror. He thought a moment, and the room was quiet again, waiting for his answer. "I suppose I'd have to turn him down," the redhead answered, finally. Riku frowned. Sora gave him a questioning look and he assured him it was nothing.

Once they were all ready and made-up, Axel called them all together. "Alright men, its nine-thirty. Guests will start arriving any minute now, so get drunk, have fun, get fucked, and happy Halloween!"

They all gave a chorusing whoop and left the room, rushing downstairs to wait for the first guests to arrive. Riku trailed behind at a rather more casual pace. _Well_, he mentally sighed, _good luck, Namine, or Roxas. Whatever your name is I'm also curious to see how this turns out._

**BUM-BUM, RIKU KNOWS! ~LEGASP. Well, I have many MANY exciting things in store for next chapter. Review! Luvluvluvluvluv.**


	14. Run Away Riding Hood

**WAAAAAAH! Second update this week! I'm on a roll muthafuckas! Haha. Enjoi x[p**

"Larxene, I'm not sure how I feel about this." Roxas ran a hand down his dress, a bit too short for comfort, and stared at the bodice that was wrangling in his waist.

The taller blonde gave him a fleeting glance before turning back to her own mirror in the bathroom. "You look fantastic. Little red riding hood is like a guilty pleasure. And I'm sure Axel will appreciate all the red, he'll see it as homage to his hair or something."

Larxene was an elf, and a fairly sexy one at that. Roxas hadn't seen any of the other girls yet, but Rikku was going as a ninja, Yuna was a witch and Paine was an undead metalhead from the 80's. Kairi still refused to show anyone her costume, but it had leaked that she'd decided to go as Xenna warrior princess, minus the hard leather and boots and plus a whole lotta leopard-print lingerie.

Roxas was mulling over his suspicions on how good girls were at finding the perfect costumes to take a fairly traditional concept and turn it into a walking Viagra advertisement every year, when Larxene snapped her portable make-up kit closed, and slung a purse over her shoulder, smirking. "Showtime."

Xxx

10:30pm and the doorbell rang for what felt like the millionth time. Red cup in hand, Riku felt lighthearted as he made his way towards the front door and swung it open, "HAPPY HALLOWEEEN!" he bursted, drawing hesitantly startled looks from the sober girls at the door. Roxas was the first to laugh, "Riku, how much have you had to drink? Its not even midnight yet!"

Riku grinned, "It's a secret, Namine. If I tell you, you'll either think I'm a pansy lightweight or that I'm going to be the D.B. for the evening!"

Roxas made a face, looking up to Larxene he repeated, "D.B.?" Larxene rolled her eyes, "It stands for drunk bitch. It's the unofficial title given at every party to the one person who gets too fucked up."

As they made their way inside Riku babbled endlessly about the all his preparation; games, music, food, and anything else that came to mind. Roxas listened just long enough to find out where beer pong and the dance floor were set up before delving off to appreciate the decorations. He'd really gone all-out, Riku, his mammoth of a house was completely decked out, ceiling to floor, in fake blood, freaky dolls, scarecrows, shattered mirrors, and strategically placed strobe lights. Roxas didn't think he'd ever even heard of decorations this intense before. Maybe in a professional haunted house. Maybe.

Trotting to catch up with his friends, little red riding hood passed through the entryway, which had a few people sipping drinks and mingling, into the kitchen where there was a full buffet table of Halloween-themed foods. Sausages that looked like intestines, peeled grapes that looked like eyeballs, brain jello…. Candy. The kitchen seemed to be where everyone was mingling, and, in the corner, was a fat keg and full bar. Jesus.

Larxene walked back from the bar, two red cups in hand, and placed one under Roxas' possession. "Drink," she commanded. They both tipped their heads back and downed their drinks. Larxene went back for more.

Three drinks later, Roxas was carrying a third down to the basement, and in a very good mental place. He wasn't sure what he'd just ingested, or what percentage of it was booze, but he felt bubbly and only fell over once on his way down the stairs, so he deemed himself fine and made his way to the dance floor.

Black lights, strobe lights, floor lights, and a fully lit dj booth blinded him for a moment, then he could feel the heavy bass pounding in his chest and vibrating beneath his feet. It wasn't long before he was amidst the throng of people, jumping up and down and screaming along when he knew the lyrics to a song.

Xxx

Axel had left the beerpong to pee when he saw Larxene on his way back through the kitchen. "LAR! Hey!" the taller boy picked up the lanky girl and spun her around for good measure, grinning. "You look hot!"

Larxene smirked. "Hey Axel, you look pretty nice yourself. Pirate?"

Axel scoffed. "Not just any pirate."

Larxene blinked, unmoved.

Axel stuttered, waving his arms demonstratively about his apparel, "I'm captain Jack Sparrow!"

The blonde girl frowned, confused.

"Ugh, of all the… Look, we dreaded my hair and put beady things and what-nots in it. You know. The guy from those movies with the hot chick Kira and her boy-toy the eunuch!"

Larxene downed the rest of her drink in one heavy swallow and shook her head, "I don't have the slightest idea what you're talking about, but you look great. Namine will love it. Have you seen her yet?"

Axel rubbed his chin, smearing some of the sharpie beard he'd applied earlier. "Can't say I have. She's probably dancing though." The pirate waggled his eyebrows outrageously, "Guess that means I should go join her."

The redhead turned to hunt down Roxas, but Larxene caught his elbow. Eyebrow lilted in question, he looked back. Larxene pursed her lips, as if she wasn't sure whether or not she wanted to say something, but finally spoke, her voice almost pleading, "Find some time to get away from this crowd. Namine needs to talk to you about something."

Axel frowned and turned to face Larxene, but she shook her head, "No, I can't explain any more, but trust me, you need to make time tonight for the two of you to just talk."

Axel hesitated, then nodded solemnly. The two turned their separate ways and enjoyed the party to their heart's content.

Xxx

Around 2AM, Roxas was lead by Axel, giggling profusely, out onto the deck for some fresh air. The two were laughing about the HORRENDOUS game of beer pong they'd just played- and lost, not that they saw it as a negative to their night in any way shape or form. Nothing could ruin the moment.

Other than a few stray party-goers who were out smoking no one else was on the deck. Axel let go of Roxas' hand and made his way over to the railing, leaning against it and looking out at the city at night. Roxas did the same next to him, and the two of them stood in silence for an immeasurable amount of time.

"So, this is quite possibly the best party I've ever been to." Roxas finally said, not really caring if Axel replied or not. Neither really needed the conversation, but the smaller boy had simply decided to say what was on his mind.

Axel chuckled, "Riku's got a reputation to uphold. He's got all this house and a butt-load of money, why shouldn't he throw the best parties in a hundred miles."

Roxas nodded silently; agreeing, but too tired to voice it. A sudden warmth swept over him and, a moment later, he realized Axel had put his arm around him. The small blonde sighed lazily and leaned into the taller boy's side. This was nice.

"So," Axel began. Roxas looked up and met Axel's acid green eyes, eyeing him curiously. "Larxene said you had something you wanted to tell me?"

Roxas tensed. Axel could feel it, but chose to ignore it. He wanted to know, what was so important that Larxene was goading him to get them alone?

Roxas sounded nervous as he spoke, "Did Larxene talk to you?"

Axel nodded, still relaxed.

The petite boy bit his lip, eyes searching the guard-rail for answers. They gave him none. "Goddamnit, Lar…" he mumbled, running a nervous hand up towards his wig and stopping himself before he did something stupid.

Axel waited patiently for the 'girl' to speak. Namine sighed, "I'm sorry, I… There's something I have to tell you." His voice was barely audible, and a bit shaky towards the end.

Axel frowned, looking down at the girl, who was fidgeting nonstop. Roxas wrung his hands until they were raw. Taking a nervous breath he closed his eyes and spat out, "Axel, I'm…"

"Go steady with me," Axel interjected.

Roxas choked, "I-What?"

The blonde looked up at the older boy, who in turned from looking out at the city down to the boy under his arm. "Officially. Be my girlfriend."

And that was it. Something snapped. In the future, Roxas would look back on that moment, and blame it on the booze he'd ingested in that last round of beer pong, but whether or not that was true the world may never know.

Roxas started to cry. Not obscenely. Just, that kind that tickles your nose, and you hate yourself because you can't stop it, water just wells in your eyes and starts to trickle out. You try to ignore it, but then it only grows stronger and you go from weeping to crying. Trying to stop the mess before it gets out of hand, you sniffle, only to realize your sinuses are all swollen like they get, and finally you reach up an arm to try and wipe the tears off, only to realize that you were a goner from the start. These things all happened to Roxas, too fast, and baffled at his lack of composure, he did the only thing left to do, in his mind at least. He ran.

Axel, bewildered, stuttered and stepped back, "Namine? Hey, are you okay? Listen, I'm sorry, just forget it. I-"

As the smaller student ran, he just stood there, watching him go. He couldn't fathom what had just happened, and he should have run after him, but he was dumbstruck. He couldn't move if his life depended on it. What did he do wrong?

**CLIFF HANGER :3 reviews make the world go round.**


	15. On the Bright Side

**HOLY SHIT. Its been over a year since I've updated. Tee hee. I've tried to update several times- between writers block and college and work I've been pretty busy, but here's a new chapter for all you folks who have been waiting EEEONS (is that how you spell that idk?) for me to update, I LOVE YOU, and to my new readers, enjoy ;)**

**P.S. Woah- 250 reviews and 162 followers. Thanks guys, you really deserve this.**

"NAMINE. Did you just hear _anything_ I said? I know you've always been the more rebellious of the two of you, but frankly, this is unacceptable! Whatever problems your adolescent brain thinks has made this sort of behavior okay are not sufficient excuses for you to miss THREE WEEKS worth of classes." Roxas pulled his ear sharply from the phone, through which his mother was chiseling his patience away bit by bit. He ground his teeth in frustration, knowing he was largely at fault, but the feeling of anger and heartbreak clenching in his chest kept his mouth shut from both apology and explanation while she ranted.

Larxene tossed a tennis ball idly against the wall from where she sat on the floor, seemingly uninterested in Roxas' conversation; but his mother was hollering so loudly that he was sure she was listening to every word both parties exchanged.

"Yeah, mom. Sorry," Roxas rubbed his hand against his hair in a flustered rush, his wig waiting diligently in its spot on the bedpost, and then decided that all he wanted was for this conversation to be over. His mother began to blubber onward about how she couldn't believe he was wasting all that tuition money when he cut her off, saying, "Look mom, I'm coming home in a couple of days for Thanksgiving, can't we just talk about it then?"

Larxene stopped throwing the ball. The phone was quiet enough that she couldn't hear the answer, and she waited quietly while Roxas went through the typical, "Yeah mom. I know. Alright, I will. Yeah. Alright, love you too. Bye," and hung up.

"You knew you couldn't get away with it forever," she stated plainly. "I'm surprised you managed to get out of two classes for this long without serious repercussions. If you weren't one of the minority students whose parents pay full tuition you'd have been expelled by now."

Roxas grimaced, a recently familiar gesture. He'd been skipping music class and P.E., the two classes during which Axel had a decent chance of catching him alone, since the Halloween party. He'd stayed home after school. He'd ignored texts, phone calls, e-mails, letters, deleted his facebook, and the few times Axel had tried to interrupt his other classes to get a chance to see him, Tifa had done a pretty excellent job getting the point across- "She dumped you, Axel." Those were her exact words; and the stricken look on that arrogant, strikingly handsome face had broken something inside his chest, where his heart used to be.

And Larxene was right. He'd been lucky. Tifa had called him to her office more than once. Between her, the school counselor, and the school nurse he'd come up with so many excuses: cramps, illness, more illness, personal issues, family emergencies, mental breakdowns, ADD, until it became clear that he was straight up ditching school, ANYTHING to keep him from having to face Axel. Because he still couldn't think of anything to say; and once caught alone, Axel wouldn't stop until he had an answer.

The counselor had pulled in some of his friends, Larxene included, to ask them about him earlier that week; the prognosis was that he was depressed, and finally the school called his mother to let her know that her 'daughter' had been missing two classes a day for almost three weeks now; they were very concerned about 'Namine's' mental health. Of course, after the party he hadn't been able to answer to his other friends either. Especially Kairi. She'd come up to him asking what the fuck he did to her brother, and why he wouldn't even talk to him. Seeing as Kairi was the shoe goo holding most of their friends together, he'd distanced himself from everyone by doing so from Kairi. Ironically, the whole situation was pretty depressing.

Larxene had remained civil; but there was definitely a rift between them. She maintained her promise not to turn him in, and she never asked about what happened on Halloween. But she made it clear that she didn't approve of the way he'd chosen to handle everything after promising her she'd tell Axel the truth, and failing to do exactly that. This was all implied through a silently coldness that fell over their relationship, and Roxas never questioned it. As far as he was concerned, he deserved it. And now, he felt like his tank had finally hit empty; this truck was stuck in the mud, and now there wasn't any gas left for him to dig himself deeper.

Larxene sighed and stood up. Slowly shaking her head, she walked over and wrapped her arms around Roxas, making him jump a little, startled, she hadn't touched him, let alone hugged him, in awhile. As the taller girl leaned over him into the hug, she sounded tired, "You've been a coward. This pity party can't last much longer without you bringing the roof down on top of yourself".

Roxas eyes started to water; mostly from emotional exhaustion. "I'm tired of this. But I don't know what to do anymore. I've already ruined everything, so what's left to lose?"

Larxene groaned and stood up, giving Roxas an angry look as she did. "No. You don't get to say that. Roxas, you broke your promise, you abandoned your friends, and you ran away from someone who likes you SO much that it completely crushed him. But every choice you make is a step in one direction or another. You fucked it up, now only you can fix it."

Roxas stared at his feet. He didn't just feel like it, he _was_ the scum of the earth. "I'm sorry, Larxene. I'm just going to do what I can to finish out the quarter. I've been e-mailing Namine, telling her that it's not working out here. She'll be back from France in time to take my place here after winter break."

Larxene's eyes widened a bit, "So you're really giving up? That's it?"

Roxas sighed wearily. "Yup. I'm done."

~~~pagebreak kyuuuuu~~~

It was Friday, and Demyx was ready to get the hell out of dodge; dodge being this estrogen-stenched penitentiary of a school. The bright sides were that it was fall, so the typically stuffy, rarely comfortable music room was at a comfortably cool temperature. And that it was Friday. If he didn't get out of here soon, though, he was gonna whoop out some Rebecca Black on those half-wit teenage asses. Facetiously speaking, of course; Demyx was pretty sure he wasn't allowed to refer to his student's asses for any legitimate reasons. Not that it meant anything, the entire faculty knew him and Zexion had been dating merrily for about a month now. What was he thinking about again?

The bell rang, and he picked himself up, slightly regretful that he didn't make a run for it while he had the chance, and opened his mouth to address the class when the door opened and in walked Namine.

Roxas felt the weight of stares from every person in the room fall onto him as he continued walking and pulled up a chair in the back. "Sorry I'm late," he muttered, uncomfortably. There was no response for an awkward moment, before finally Demyx broke it.

"Well! Well, well, well. Namine, it's good to have you back," he grinned at her, earnestly happy to see her after having assumed he may never see her in his class again. Roxas gave him a weak smile back and Demyx began to address the class, gathering up all those lingering stares to the front of the room and away from the small blonde sitting alone in the back. Demyx reminded them all that they were to study over break, because though he personally didn't care for tests, the school board required him to give them midterms, and there would be two; one on basic music theory, one on music history. Both topics had been thoroughly covered during the first half of the period during the weeks Roxas had decided to be absent, and both exams would be given the Friday of the first week back. Attendance without explicitly pre-approved reason was mandatory, lest you fail the class.

Roxas groaned inwardly and sunk lower in his chair (absently pulling his skirt down with disciplined habit that he'd developed since taking up cross-dressing). He hadn't been there for any of the lectures, and without a seriously good tutor he'd fail for sure. He didn't want to do that to Namine; not when it was his own damned fault. The class broke up to go work in their groups on their music projects, and Roxas found himself standing, searching through the students, trying to find a suitable tutor. He could ask Yuna, but he wasn't sure she'd be willing to help him after how many times he'd turned down plans to hang out and ignored her texts. He couldn't help but consider that karma might be an ugly mutherfucker who plays dirty.

Considering karma and all, he didn't really notice Demyx until the teacher was standing literally a foot away from him, and spun around frantically, "Hi! Sorry, um what did you say?"

Demyx frowned worriedly, "Axel's not here."

Roxas blinked. Oh yeah. Axel. He had a brief thought to laugh at how he'd completely forgotten about Axel in the one class they had together cross, and then sudden anxiety washed it away. "What? Where is he?"

Demyx licked his lips nervously, "well, when you stopped showing up he thought he could wait you out, you'd come back eventually… but then days turned into weeks; he hasn't been in at all this week."

Roxas felt a stab of guilt, but did his best to ignore it… he nodded slowly, not really sure what to do next.

"I'd put you in another group in case he doesn't come back, but we're already half way through the quarter; it would be unfair to the other kids," Demyx gave him a sympathetic look, "Do you have any material you can work on today?"

The boy shook his head, "No, Ax… Axel kept it all. He did most of the work, so it made sense for him to hold on to it."

Demyx nodded. There was a moment of silence between them before Demyx finally put a gentle hand on Roxas shoulder. "You know, he was pretty beat up over you dumping him. It was pathetic. I bet if you asked, he'd literally come running back to class and help you finish the project, if only to spend time with you."

Roxas wouldn't look Demyx in the eye. "Yeah, which is exactly why I don't want to ask."

The teacher sighed, letting his hand fall to his side. "Alright. Do whatever you think is best. I'm not good at this role model thing; shit, I'm only like two, maybe three years older than you? But I do know that you can't finish this project without your partner; and without a tutor for these midterms, you'll probably fail the class too."

All Roxas could do was nod and say, "I understand."

Demyx gave him a hesitant look, and then turned to head to his office, where he'd wait for students who came to ask him for help periodically throughout the period. "And because you seem to need it right now, good luck," he called back as he slipped through the door.

The long blonde fibers of the wig tickled his cheek as Roxas turned and walked towards a practice room for some privacy. _More than you know_, he thought, wishing as hard as he could for luck to exist, and that he could come across enough of the stuff to get him out of this mess.

On the bright side, it was Friday, and after school his mom would pick him up and bring him home. Being a boarding school, they were given all of thanksgiving week off to spend time with family. Later in the week he would go to pick up his sister from the airport, and come home as Roxas, back from dad's for thanksgiving weekend. He would be home. He could see his sister. And he wouldn't have to see anyone from school for a week. He wouldn't have to pretend to be Namine for awhile. He wouldn't have to face Axel… at least, not yet. And as far as he was concerned, putting off that last one for as long as possible, even if that wasn't going to be very much longer, was all he had left.


End file.
